CONFERENCE ON DISARMAMENT HEARS ADDRESS FROM BULGARIAN MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AS BULGARIA TAKES OVER PRESIDENCY OF CONFERENCE
The Conference on Disarmament this morning heard an address by Nikolay Mladenov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria, as Bulgaria took over the presidency of the Conference. The Conference also heard from Frank Rose, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Verification, Compliance and Implementation of the United States, who presented the New National Space Policy of the United States to the Conference. The Conference then engaged in an interactive discussion with Mr. Rose in which the Russian Federation, Algeria, Brazil and Canada participated.
Opening this morning’s meeting, the first under Bulgaria’s Presidency, Ambassador Gancho Ganev of Bulgaria, President of the Conference on Disarmament, said Bulgaria was committed to seeking acceptable solutions to get the Conference on Disarmament back to substantive work.
Nikolay Mladenov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria, said that today’s global challenges could not be resolved by anyone alone but they could, however, be tackled effectively if States worked together. This implied making concessions and compromises, even more so in the fields of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. The protracted stalemate in the Conference and its continuing failure to adopt a programme of work severely undermined the confidence of the international community in the ability of the Conference to comprehensively address matters related to disarmament and non-proliferation. Commencing negotiations on a Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty in the Conference was a steady and logical step for advancing nuclear disarmament and for preventing proliferation. Early entry into force of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty was another pressing matter whose solution would be a critical step on the road of nuclear disarmament.
Mr. Mladenov noted that the world had changed immensely in the last 12 years; the Conference however had not changed. Questions needed to be asked and answers sought: was the Conference, created in 1979, still capable of creating and keeping the necessary amount of trust to make delegations sit down together to negotiate? Why, at a time when there was clear will to move forward on disarmament and non-proliferation, was the Conference unable to materialize this support into specific agreements? Despite these difficulties, Bulgaria continued to attach great importance to the work of this body. Reaching consensus on a programme of work in the remaining time until the end of the 2010 session should send a clear message that multilateralism in the Conference was possible.
Frank Rose, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Verification, Compliance and Implementation of the United States, briefing the Conference on the New National Space Policy of the United States, said that this policy was a statement of President Obama’s highest priorities for space, and reflected the principles and goals to be used in shaping the conduct of the United States’ space programmes and activities. The new policy also reflected the fact that space had become an even more important component of the collective economic and international security. The interconnected nature of space capabilities and the world’s growing dependence on them meant that irresponsible acts in space could have damaging consequences for all. Emerging challenges had increased the need for greater stability in space. Such strengthened stability could most effectively be achieved through international cooperation and included orbital debris mitigation measures; shared space situational awareness; improved information sharing for collision avoidance; and transparency and confidence-building measures.
Mr. Rose said the new policy also stated that the United States would consider space-related arms control concepts and proposals that met the criteria of equitability and effective verifiability and which enhanced its national security and that of its allies. The United States thus continued to support the inclusion of a non-negotiating, or discussion, mandate in any Conference on Disarmament programme of work under the agenda item on the prevention of an arms race in outer space.
The next plenary of the Conference on Disarmament will take place on Thursday, 15 July at 10 a.m. in the Council Chamber. It will be the last plenary of the second part of the 2010 session of the Conference. The third and last part of the session will be held from 9 August to 24 December
Statements
GANCHO GANEV, President of the Conference on Disarmament (Bulgaria), in opening remarks at the start of the Bulgarian Presidency, said Bulgaria was committed to seeking acceptable solutions to get the Conference on Disarmament back to substantive work.
NIKOLAY MLADENOV, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria, said that today’s global challenges could not be resolved by anyone alone but they could, however, be tackled effectively if States worked together. This implied making concessions and compromises, even more so in the fields of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. Working towards a world free of nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction was a mission above politics and diplomacy, above national ambitions and personal egos. Multilateralism was the most reliable mechanism to achieve long-term solutions to the national security concerns of every country and the Conference on Disarmament had to play a primary role in this regard. The protracted stalemate in the Conference and its continuing failure to adopt a programme of work severely undermined the confidence of the international community in the ability of the Conference to comprehensively address matters related to disarmament and non-proliferation. Nothing, no fear, no suspicion, no perception of a single country or group of States, should be in a position to prevent the Conference from undertaking the most effective possible steps towards the ultimate goal of nuclear disarmament.
Nuclear disarmament could be irreversible only if appropriate commitments were undertaken to reduce the risk of proliferation of vulnerable fissile materials. Commencing negotiations on a Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty in the Conference was therefore a steady and logical step for advancing nuclear disarmament and for preventing proliferation, said Mr. Mladenov. Early entry into force of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty was another pressing matter whose solution would be a critical step on the road of nuclear disarmament. The moment that Bulgaria assumed the Presidency of the Conference was particularly rich of developments in the area of disarmament and non-proliferation that seemed to be at odds with what was happening in the Conference. Among them he named the United States’ goal of a world free of nuclear weapons; the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty between the United States and Russia; and the agreement reached in New York at the Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference. The outcome of the Review Conference had shown that multilateral consensus in nuclear disarmament was possible. Over the last year, the political will and desire to advance disarmament and non-proliferation had strengthened. In spite of all the positive developments, the Conference continued to be blocked by extreme precautions and mistrust that had put procedural chains on its work.
Mr. Mladenov noted that the world had changed immensely in the last 12 years, the Conference however had not changed; its agenda had remained the same for the last 12 years. The mechanisms that the Conference offered to its Member States to effectively deal with the pertinent disarmament non-proliferation issues should be rethought. Questions needed to be asked and answers sought: was the Conference, created in 1979, still capable of creating and keeping the necessary amount of trust to make delegations sit down together to negotiate? Why, at a time when there was clear will to move forward on disarmament and non-proliferation, was the Conference unable to materialize this support into specific agreements? Despite these difficulties, Bulgaria continued to attach great importance to the work of this body. Successful disarmament instruments could only be based on the principles of inclusiveness as they would impose obligations upon all Member States. All delegations should show the necessary level of compromise and flexibility without which multilateralism was unthinkable. The recent draft decision presented by the Presidency of Brazil was a balanced and flexible updated compromise of the one that was reached last year. Reaching consensus on a programme of work in the remaining time until the end of the 2010 Session should send a clear message that multilateralism in the Conference was possible. Such a message was all the more important with regard to the upcoming high-level meeting on multilateral disarmament negotiations this September.
FRANK ROSE, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Verification, Compliance and Implementation of the United States, briefing the Conference on the New National Space Policy of the United States, said that that the new space policy had been released just two weeks ago and was a statement of President Obama’s highest priorities for space, and reflected the principles and goals to be used in shaping the conduct of the United States’ space programmes and activities. This new policy was also a commitment by the United States to work cooperatively with the international community to preserve space for the benefit of all nations. In the four years since the issuance of the previous National Space Policy, a number of developments had changed the opportunities, challenges and threats facing the international space community. The new policy also reflected the fact that space had become an even more important component of the collective economic and international security. The new policy placed more emphasis on expanding international cooperation and collaboration; encouraging responsible action in space; increasing use of commercial space goods and services; strengthening and energizing the United States’ space industrial base; enhancing openness, as well as pursuing new transparency and confidence-building measures; and protecting critical space capabilities.
Addressing these points individually, Mr. Rose said that the United States would work with allies, friends and partners in enhanced cooperation in space science as well as in human and robotic space exploration. They would also pursue enhanced cooperative programmes in the use of Earth observation satellites to support weather forecasting, environmental monitoring and sustainable development worldwide. The United States would also continue to operate the International Space Station in cooperation with its international partners, likely to 2020 or beyond. He also noted that more nations were using satellites in ways to help maintain international peace and security, including contributing to increased transparency and stability among nations and providing a vital communications path for avoiding potential conflicts. However, the interconnected nature of space capabilities and the world’s growing dependence on them meant that irresponsible acts in space could have damaging consequences for all. Furthermore, decades of space activity had littered Earth’s orbit with debris. As nations and commercial enterprise continued to increase activities in space, the possibility of another collision increased correspondingly. These emerging challenges had increased the need for greater stability in space. Such strengthened stability could most effectively be achieved through international cooperation and included orbital debris mitigation measures; shared space situational awareness; improved information sharing for collision avoidance; and transparency and confidence-building measures.
Mr. Rose said the United States would continue to lead in furthering the development and adoption of international standards to minimize debris, building upon the foundation of the United Nations Space Debris Mitigation Guidelines. The new policy also called for collaboration on the dissemination of orbital tracking information, including predictions of potentially hazardous conjunctions between orbiting objects. The United States would also pursue pragmatic transparency and confidence-building measures to strengthen stability in space and to mitigate the risk of mishaps, misperceptions and mistrust. The new policy also stated that the United States would consider space-related arms control concepts and proposals that met the criteria of equitability and effective verifiability and which enhanced its national security and that of its allies. The United States thus continued to support the inclusion of a non-negotiating, or discussion, mandate in any Conference on Disarmament programme of work under the agenda item on the prevention of an arms race in outer space. The United States further called on governments around the world to work together to adopt approaches for responsible activity in space in order to preserve this right for the benefit of future generations and urged all nations to conduct these space activities in ways that emphasized openness and transparency.
VICTOR VASILIEV (Russia) thanked Mr. Rose for his detailed briefing and said that Russia welcomed the changes in the attitudes of the United States Administration with regard to space issues. A number of events had had an impact on the drafting of this new space policy, such as the collision in February 2009 between a Russian and a privately operated satellite.
Mr. Vasiliev also noted that the General Assembly had recently been able to adopt by consensus the traditional resolution on transparency and confidence-building measures in outer space activities tabled by Russia and China and that for the first time the United State had not acted in breach of consensus. Russia hoped that this non-breach of consensus would translate in the future into a more active participation by the United States. He also wondered whether the issuance of this new space policy meant that the United States was acknowledging the fact that the current legal norms were insufficient and that the United States would be ready to join work to develop such standards in order to further strengthen outer space security.
FRANK ROSE, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Verification, Compliance and Implementation of the United States, said that with regards to the negotiation of a new space arms control agreement, they had not met yet any proposal that was meeting the criteria they were looking for, but they were ready to work with all partners to increase the long-time sustainability of space.
IDRISS JAZAIRY (Algeria) said that in both presentations of this morning he had noted that in the outside world there was a lot of positive movement in the field of disarmament but the problem was that the Conference on Disarmament was not moving at the same pace. He also noted that today was a happy day for Algeria as they had launched a new satellite, with the cooperation India.
Turning to the mandate of the Conference on Disarmament on the prevention of an arms race in outer space, Mr. Jazairy noted that Mr. Rose had mentioned the fact that the United States supported the inclusion of a non-negotiating discussion mandate under this agenda item. However, the current draft programme of work mentioned the possibility “to discuss substantively, without limitation, not excluding the possibility of multilateral negotiations in the Conference on Disarmament” all issues related to that matter. How should they thus interpret Mr. Rose’s formulation with regard to the proposal made in the draft programme of work?
FRANK ROSE, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Verification, Compliance and Implementation of the United States, said that the United States supported the formulation as it was in the draft programme of work.
LUIZ FILIPE DE MACEDO SOARES (Brazil) said that he could not refrain from celebrating the answer just given to Algeria. This was real progress. However, he wanted to address the criteria of equitability and effective verifiability, on which Mr. Rose had touched upon in his presentation. Mr. Rose had said that negotiations would only be possible if meeting these criterions. Effective verifiability was indeed an attainable goal, as they could use the means of several counties which had this capability. However, equitability was more difficult to attain. Being one country far-ahead of others on the level of technology and volume of utilization of outer space, any commitment would be an equitable burden for that country. This was the case in every field where there was a clear imbalance between countries, be it in the economic areas or in technology. Leading countries would never be able to negotiate and be party of an agreement.
MARIUS GRINUS (Canada) said that Canada hoped the Conference would be able to achieve the adoption of a programme of work under the guidance of Bulgaria. The contributions of the United State were an integral part of the agenda item on prevention of an arms race in outer space and Canada appreciated the United States Government’s continued engagement on this issue.
On the same subject, Mr. Grinius said that the 2010 UNIDIR Space Conference that had taken place this March had been entitled “From Foundations to Negotiations”. UNIDIR had compiled a summary of the conference and it was now available. He thus requested the Secretary-General of the Conference on Disarmament to circulate this document as an official Conference on Disarmament document and to include it into the Conference on Disarmament’s report to the General Assembly.
For use of the information media; not an official record
DC10/030E