EU must help reduce nuclear proliferation, warns MEP

Dutch MEP Jan Marinus Wiersma has warned of a possible backlash from rogue states if the EU fails to reduce the number of nuclear weapons in the world.

Speaking at a top-level conference in parliament on Tuesday, Wiersma, deputy leader of the Socialist group, “We have a window of opportunity to move the agenda on nuclear disarmament forward and strengthen the non-proliferation regime, but we need a new international debate to discuss the steps which need to be taken,” he told theparliament.com.

Wiersma opened the conference, organised by the PES group, which is designed to push nuclear non-proliferation back on the global agenda before US president-elect Barack Obama takes office.

He added, “If we in Europe do not make the most of this window of opportunity we face a possible backlash because the fact is that more and more countries are developing nuclear energy.

“Most do so for peaceful means but there is always the danger that one country will abuse this and nurture the sort of ambitions which Iran is said to currently hold.”

Measures he expects the conference to endorse include calling for a complete ban on the testing of nuclear devices and a recommendation that the “whole nuclear fuel cycle” be brought under full international control.

“That means that if a country wants to develop a nuclear plant it is free to do so but first it must accept full international controls and that its nuclear fuel is closely monitored,” said Wiersma.

On Iran, he said he shared the growing concern about the country’s nuclear ambitions, adding, “Many say it is about to develop a nuclear weapons programme and, with this in mind, I believe Iran should be more open and receptive to the sort of proposals we are discussing in parliament today.”

Other speakers at the conference include Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, EU foreign affairs supremo Javier Solana and Joseph Cirincione, an informal aide on nuclear issues to Barack Obama.

The event comes at a time when the EU is attempting to revive a movement to reduce the number of nuclear weapons in the world. It is proposing a global ban on nuclear testing and a moratorium on production of all fissile material.

France, a nuclear power, holds the EU presidency until the end of the year, and French president Nicolas Sarkozy this week wrote to the UN secretary general Ban Ki Moon, on the issue, saying the EU should have a similar role to the UN in the global fight against nuclear proliferation.

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