Lithuania calls for early entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
Statement by H.E. Amb. Dalius Čekuolis, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Lithuania,
at the 2011 conference on facilitating
the Entry Into Force of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty
23 September 2011
Dear Co-Presidents,
Let me begin by congratulating the Co-Presidents of this Conference and by assuring them of my delegation’s full support. Also, I would like to reiterate full endorsement of Lithuania for the performance of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organisation (CTBTO) and its Provisional Technical Secretariat for the outstanding activities, which contribute to promoting the early entry into force of the CTBT.
We fully align ourselves with the statement by the European Union and will limit ourselves to a few short remarks.
Lithuania attaches great importance to the CTBT and welcomes 5 countries, which have ratified the Convention since the last Article XIV Conference in 2009. My country is particularly pleased with the fact that the CTBT has achieved an almost universal adherence, with 182 signatures and 155 ratifications. This testifies to the strong and wide support of the international community for the Treaty and also strong stance against nuclear testing.
At the same time, we remain concerned that none of the 9 remaining Annex II countries have ratified the Convention since the last Conference. Three out of 44 Annex II states have not even signed it. Lithuania urges all States Parties that have not yet done so, to sign and ratify CTBT, without delay and without conditions.
Finally, we believe that, pending the entry into force of the Convention, Article XIV conferences have been sending a strong political signal to increase the pace of ratifications. Given the progress achieved so far, we are in favour of maintaining this particular pattern and welcome the adoption of the Final Declaration.
Thank you.
