By Martin Banks - 11th March 2010
France's determined position on this is holding things up
Gareth Evans
France has been lambasted for "dragging its heels" in committing to nuclear disarmament issues.
Gareth Evans, co-chairman of the International Commission on nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, said Paris "appears determined not to commit to a nuclear-free world."
Calling on the French to give a "clear commitment" to disarmament, the former Australian foreign minister said that failure to reach international agreement on such issues could have "serious" political ramifications.
"France's determined position on this is holding things up," said Evans.
His comments comes after MEPs adopted a report on Wednesday which calls for member states to commit to "total disarmament" and improve means of verification.
It also comes ahead of a planned review of the 1968 nuclear non-proliferation treaty, the cornerstone of efforts to control the balance of nuclear bomb-making technology.
The next review conference will be held in May in New York where the EU is expected to take part as an observer, coordinating the positions of member states.
Evans was addressing a briefing on eliminating the "nuclear threat", organised by the European Policy Centre, the Brussels-based think tank.
He said the disarmament debate had been revived in recent times and that worldwide there are currently some 23,000 nuclear warheads with 95 per cent of them being held by two countries, the US and Russia.
In light of such stockpiles, he said, "It is sheer dumb luck that there's not been a catastrophe in the last 65 years."
He describes 2010 as a "watershed year" in reaching agreement on such issues warning that failure to do so would mean a "return to the dark old days of policy paralysis and indifference."
"It is a make-or-break year," he declared.
The Australian has authored a major new report which says that it "defies credibility that so long as any such weapons exist, they will not one day be used."
"The risk cannot be ignored. Along with climate change, nuclear disarmament is one of two great global issues although it has to be said that nuclear bombs can kill a hell of a lot faster than CO2."
The report is timely, coming on the eve of next month's non-proliferation conference in Washington, organised by US president Barack Obama.
The 230-page report calls for a 90 per cent reduction in nuclear stockpiles by 2025 with a view to them being eliminated altogether in time.
It says this would involve Russia reducing its 13,000-strong stockpile to 500 and a similar commitment from the US, which has an estimated stockpile of 9,000 weapons.
The report, "Eliminating nuclear threats: a practical agenda for global policymakers", also calls on the international community to sign up to a "no first-use" of nuclear weapons agreement.
Evans, a former president of the Brussels-based International Crisis Group, admitted that the obstacles in achieving such targets were "immense."
In the meantime, he said it was essential the existing nuclear weapons and materials are sufficiently well-stored so as to avoid them falling into the wrong hands, including terrorists.
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