Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty

EIF Conference Speeches

Welcoming Address by the Vice-Chancellor of Austria

Statement by

Wolfgang Schüssel

Foreign Minister of Austria

Mr. President, Madam Deputy Secretary General, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It gives me great pleasure to welcome you in Vienna, in the Hofburg, the former imperial palace and today an appropriate setting for the Conference on Facilitating the Entry into Force of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. It is my sincere hope that this conference will advance the cause of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. May it also allow you to enjoy the beauty and hospitality of the city of Vienna.

Mr. President,

Let me at the outset congratulate you, Mr. President, for your election to this important post. Austria was very pleased to support your candidature since we highly appreciate Japan's active role in the promotion of nuclear disarmament. Let me also acknowledge with gratitude the presence of United Nations Deputy Secretary General Louise Frechette here among us and thank her for her inspiring words.

In the same vein, let me pay tribute to Executive Secretary Wolfgang Hoffmann who has also been appointed Secretary of this Conference. Under his skillful leadership the Provisional Technical Secretariat has evolved into a full-fledged international organization with some 200 staff and an annual budget of over US$70 million. We are proud that the Provisional Technical Secretariat of the Preparatory Commission of the CTBT is headquartered at the Vienna International Center.

I would like to add one more expression of thanksgiving: to Ambassador John Freeman, Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the International Organizations in Vienna. About a year ago he has taken the initiative as the then chairman of the Preparatory Commission to get the ball rolling about this conference. He and subsequently Ambassador Yuji Ikeda, Permanent Representative of Japan, have chaired innumerable meetings to prepare this important conference. It is due to their diligence and diplomatic skills that the numerous questions with regard to this Conference have been resolved in time.

Mr. President,

Before turning briefly to the substance of this Conference, let me stress that Austria associates herself fully with the statement which will be made by Finland on behalf of the EU. We are encouraged by the wide participation and the high-level of representation at this conference. The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty is universal in its nature and can only fulfill its objective if all countries adhere to it and implement its provisions. It is thus of primordial importance that the three nuclear-weapon States that have not yet ratified the Treaty as well as all the other 41 States whose ratification is required for its entry into force deposit their instruments of ratification promptly. In this context, we especially call upon the three countries that have not signed the Treaty and whose ratification is required for its entry into Force to sign and ratify it as soon as possible and to observe in the meantime a moratorium on nuclear testing. Last year's nuclear tests in South Asia have clearly demonstrated how important it is to stop the further technical development and geographical spread of nuclear weapons.

At the same time, we are pleased to note that since the Treaty was adopted at the United Nations General Assembly and opened for signature three years ago, 154 States have signed and 48 States have deposited their instruments of ratification. I am convinced that this conference will further enhance public awareness about the benefits of the Treaty and hence give a boost to national endeavors to sign and ratify. Furthermore, progress at our conference will also make the 2000 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons smoother.

The Declaration which we are going to adopt will send an unequivocal message that this Treaty should enter into force as quickly as possible and that the verification regime shall be capable of meeting the verification requirements of the Treaty at entry into force, as required by Article IV of the Treaty. The Declaration also underlines the benefits that can be derived from the application of verification technologies for peaceful purposes, thus encouraging signature and ratification of the Treaty by the States concerned.

Mr. President,

In Austria's view a strong follow-up to the Conference is of the essence. Despite our most ardent desires the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty will not enter into force tomorrow. The political momentum needs to be maintained to get the ratifications of the 44 countries specially listed. Furthermore international cooperation has to be strengthened to achieve universality of the Treaty as soon as possible. Austria pledges its full support to both the Executive Secretary of the Provisional Technical Secretariat of the CTBT and the Representative of the Ratifying State commissioned to promote cooperation to facilitate the early entry into force of the treaty as regards the discharge of the respective mandates they will have received at the end of this conference pursuant to the adoption of the final Declaration.

Concerning the question of a future Conference, Mr. Chairman, I am torn. As Austria's Foreign Minister I wish to assure you that we will continue to press for an early entry into force of the CTBT, including the holding of another conference at the headquarters here in Vienna. But for the sake of humanity's progress towards a nuclear-weapon free world I sincerely hope that no need will be for many more such conferences, because the Treaty should enter into force soon.

Let us all untiringly work towards this end!

Thank you, Mr. President.


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