Mr. Chair,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union.

The Candidate Countries North Macedonia*, Montenegro^*, Albania^*, Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and Bosnia and Herzegovina^*, as well as Monaco and San Marino align themselves with this statement.

Today the world faces a proliferation of crises: Russia’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine and its global consequences, the deteriorating situation in the Sahel and other parts of Africa, the climate emergency, rising food insecurity, erosion of democracy and human rights, terrorism and violent extremism, cyber threats, as well as backsliding on achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs are intrinsically linked to peace and security and to human rights. Without peace, none of these goals will be achieved.

These challenges cannot be addressed by any one country alone; they must be resolved collectively. That is why the EU and its Member States will continue to uphold the rules-based international order founded on the UN Charter while continuing to defend, promote and further strengthen the global architecture for arms control, disarmament, multilateralism and non-proliferation as well as export control regimes.

The disarmament and non-proliferation architecture has been under considerable pressure for some time. The EU deplores the obstructive posture of some individual States, including by blocking consensus at most multilateral disarmament, non-proliferation and export control fora this year, notably the NPT First Preparatory Session in Vienna. The continued non-compliance by some States with their international obligations is a matter of grave concern to the EU. The viability and effectiveness of arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation agreements require that those agreements be fully implemented, complied with and enforced. Ensuring accountability and ending impunity is crucial to preserving the integrity of the established norms. Multilateral export control regimes, too, have experienced unjustified direct or indirect pressure. This creates a risk of side-lining these crucial effective instruments of non-proliferation, which are designed to build trust among all actors of legitimate international trade.

Mr. Chair.

The EU reiterates its strongest condemnation of Russia’s war of aggression, with Belarus’ complicity, against Ukraine, which constitutes a manifest violation of international law and the UN Charter. Russia has blatantly violated its commitments under the 1994 Budapest Memorandum to refrain from the use of force against the territorial integrity or sovereignty of Ukraine. The European Union condemns the agreement by Russia and Belarus to allow the deployment of Russian nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus. The EU condemns Russia’s actions, irresponsible nuclear rhetoric and threats to use nuclear force in its illegal, unjustified and unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine, which further demonstrate how Russia’s repeated actions undermine international peace and security. Russia’s violation of existing Confidence and Security Building Measures and conventional arms control commitments damaged the European security architecture. Russia must immediately cease its military actions, withdraw all its troops from the entire territory of Ukraine and fully respect Ukraine’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence within its internationally recognised borders. We are horrified over Russia´s campaign of systematic missile and drone strikes against civilian targets in Ukraine, in systematic breach of the rules of international humanitarian law. We furthermore condemn the delivery of Iranian drones to Russia in violation of the UN Security Council Resolution 2231.

Mr. Chair,

Promoting universal adherence to and the entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) is a key priority and we call on all States that have not yet done so, in particular those listed in Annex 2, to sign and ratify the CTBT without preconditions or further delay. In the meantime, it is of utmost importance that all States refrain from any action that would defeat the object and purpose of the Treaty.

The EU remains gravely concerned by the continued proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems. We are particularly concerned about the pursuit of ballistic missile programmes in violation of UN Security Council resolutions by several countries. We call for the immediate dismantlement of these programmes, which are a source of mistrust and contribute to regional instability. The EU fully supports the multilateral instruments on the prohibition of chemical and biological weapons and calls on all States Parties to comply fully with their obligations under the BTWC and CWC and on all Non-States Parties to sign or accede to these conventions.

The reduction of deployed strategic nuclear arsenals under the New START Treaty, enhanced notably by its robust verification mechanism, contributes to the implementation of Article VI of the NPT through the overall reduction in the global stockpile of deployed nuclear weapons. We call on Russia to immediately return to compliance with the New START Treaty and fulfil all its obligations. Recalling the obligations for all nuclear-weapon States arising from Art. VI of the NPT, we underline that the two nuclear-weapon States with the largest arsenals hold a special responsibility in the area of nuclear disarmament and arms control. Given the rapid and extensive build-up of China’s nuclear arsenal, we call on China to join future arms control agreements and to immediately take measures to improve transparency on its nuclear weapons and doctrine, to refrain from further build-up, and to pursue risk reduction measures.

Since last year, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has launched different types of ballistic and cruise missiles in unprecedented numbers, including attempted satellite launches using ballistic missile technology. The EU condemns the DPRK’s continued development of its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes and calls upon the DPRK to refrain from conducting another nuclear test. These actions threaten international peace and security. The EU urges the DPRK to engage in meaningful discussions with all relevant parties to build a basis for sustainable peace and security and to take steps aimed at pursuing Complete, Verifiable, Irreversible Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. The DPRK must abandon its nuclear weapons, any other weapons of mass destruction and its ballistic missiles and related programmes in a complete, verifiable, and irreversible manner in accordance with relevant UN Security Council resolutions.

As a key security priority, the European Union reiterates its clear determination that Iran must never develop or acquire a nuclear weapon, and recalls Iran’s commitments in that respect and its international obligations. The EU expresses its grave concern at Iran's continued actions in violation of the JCPOA in particular with regard to the expansion of its nuclear enrichment capacity and production of highly enriched uranium. Iran’s actions, which have no credible civilian justification, carry very significant proliferation-related risks. The EU is also gravely concerned at the lack of substantive cooperation by Iran with the IAEA and urges Iran to take the necessary actions without delay to fulfil its legal safeguards obligations and its commitments towards the Agency. The EU condemns the recent de-designation of several IAEA inspectors by Iran, which undermines the Agency’s ability to carry out its safeguards mandate effectively. The EU calls on all countries to support the implementation of the UN Security Council Resolution 2231 (2015).

Mr. Chair.

The EU is fully committed to playing a leading role with a view to achieving an ambitious and action-oriented “Pact for the Future” as outcome of the Summit of the Future in 2024, and will continue its constructive engagement on the proposed deliverables.

A ‘New Agenda for Peace’ must express a renewed vow of all nations to respect the principles of the UN Charter, to maintain international peace and security, and refrain from the threat or use of force. It is an opportunity to shape new responses against old and new threats, including by inter alia strengthening prevention, by ensuring adequate, predictable and sustained financing for peacekeeping, peacebuilding and implementation of the Women, Peace and Security agenda in all its dimensions as well as the Youth, Peace and Security agenda. The New Agenda for Peace should strengthen multilateral cooperation to continue advancing disarmament, arms control and non-proliferation, to prevent and counter terrorism and violent extremism, hybrid attacks, as well as cyber-related risks in full compliance with international law, including humanitarian and human rights law. In this regard, the EU fully supports the evolving framework of responsible state behaviour in cyberspace. It should also reinforce global governance for the peaceful, secure and sustainable use of outer space, and aim to strengthen synergies amongst the various governance initiatives to reinforce space safety and security. In addition, the EU is convinced that an approach based on behaviours is the most immediate way forward to make progress on prevention of an arms race in outer space.

The EU will continue to support and strengthen conventional arms control instruments. We will strive to universalize the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention and the full implementation of the Oslo Action Plan. We also fully support the humanitarian goal of the Cluster Munition Convention and strongly encourage the full implementation of the Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) in All Its Aspects. We note as an important achievement of the international community, the adoption of the Political Declaration on Strengthening the Protection of Civilians from the Humanitarian Consequences arising from the use of Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas (EWIPA), and the opportunity to continue these efforts at the Oslo Conference next year.

The EU will vigorously promote and scale up international efforts towards gender equality, the advancement and full enjoyment of all human rights by all women and girls and their empowerment, in line with its international commitments. The EU will continue to place the prevention and elimination of all forms of sexual and gender-based violence at the centre of its efforts.

In conclusion, the EU supports disarmament and non-proliferation education, to which the EU Non-Proliferation Consortium, the European network of independent think tanks, is contributing with various activities.

We will present our priorities in each of the seven cluster EU statements.

Thank you Mr. Chair.

* North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.