The European partner organisations of ICAN (International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons) have expressed their concerns about the violation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) during the United Nations meeting on the treaty. This treaty prohibits the spread of nuclear weapons and obliges countries to disarm. Yet all nuclear-weapon states are acting in breach of their commitments.
Non-nuclear-weapon states such as Belgium, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands are also undermining the treaty by supporting French plans for nuclear cooperation, which reinforces the false logic of deterrence.
‘If every state believes that it must be feared in order to be free, all states will want nuclear weapons.’
With three nuclear-armed states involved in armed conflicts, nuclear deterrence is not a solution. Atomic bombs and other nuclear weapons, just like climate change, pose an existential threat to the world. The NPT and the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons demonstrate that the majority of states reject nuclear weapons.
That is why this majority including the Netherlands must make its voice heard loud and clear. We call on states that are undermining the NPT to take the demands of the international community seriously.
Read the full statement: Statement to the 11th Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference
