Austria, Costa Rica Call
For US Leadership On
CTBT
The Foreign Ministers of
Austria and Costa Rica,
Ursula Plassnik and
Bruno Stagno Ugarte,
today called for US
leadership in the CTBT
ratification process at
a Conference promoting
the Treaty.
Plassnik and Stagno
share the presidency of
the fifth Conference to
facilitate the entry
into force of the
Comprehensive
Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty
(CTBT), which is taking
place in Vienna,
Austria. The two Foreign
Ministers were joined at
the press briefing by
Sergio Duarte, UN High
Representative for
Disarmament Affairs, and
Tibor Tóth, Executive
Secretary of the
Preparatory Commission
for the Comprehensive
Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty
Organization.
Stagno said that the
January 2007 article in
the Wall Street Journal
by well-known experts on
security issues from the
US Republican and
Democratic parties was
reason for optimism.
"They all advocated a
bi-partisan approach so
that the US can become a
full party to the CTBT",
he said. Plassnik
reiterated that the
message was, "Yes, we
want US leadership in
the CTBT ratification
process."
Referring to the shared
presidency of the
Conference as a novum in
its history, the
Ministers stressed that
this symbolized the
shared concern with
regard to weapons of
mass destruction. "The
arguments around the
CTBT are not a
North-South issue or an
East-West issue. There
is really no geographic
divide", Stagno said.
The two Ministers also
stressed the importance
of multilateralism as a
key mechanism. "We do
need multilateralism.
Unilateralism has proved
to be a dead end",
Plassnik emphasized.
UN High Representative
Duarte stressed the
non-discriminatory
character of the CTBT as
it applied equally to
all parties. Executive
Secretary Tóth said that
the legal norm against
nuclear testing created
by the Treaty was
enjoying increasing
support and was becoming
more and more universal.
All speakers called for
an early entry into
force of the CTBT.
Particular emphasis was
put on the need for the
remaining ten Annex 2
States, whose
ratification was
necessary for the Treaty
to enter into force, to
come forward and do so.
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