News

United Nations General Assembly

66th session

First Committee

Statement by the Republic of Lithuania

Thematic discussion on Nuclear Weapons

13 October 2011, New York

Mr. Chairman,

As this is the first time Lithuania takes the floor during this session of the First Committee, let me congratulate you on your election and offer full support of the Lithuanian delegation.

As a member of the European Union, Lithuania promotes and supports implementation of the EU policies in the domain of the international security, disarmament and non-proliferation. Let me now briefly touch upon a few issues of particular importance to my delegation.

We welcome the successful outcome of the NPT Review Conference of 2010 and support further strengthening of the NPT regime in its all three mutually reinforcing pillars– disarmament, non-proliferation and peaceful use of nuclear energy.

World free of nuclear weapons remains our general vision for the future. In the meantime, effective implementation of existing multilateral and bilateral agreements related to nuclear arms control and further disarmament paves the way to achieving this goal. In this context, Lithuania, as a non-Nuclear Weapon State, regards confidence building measures, reciprocal transparency and verification as an integral and essential part of the nuclear arms control and disarmament process. Those measures should apply both to strategic and nonstrategic nuclear weapons, however, nonstrategic nuclear weapons should be a priority primarily because of their absence from arms reduction treaties.

In the field of non-proliferation, coherent multilateral efforts are needed to promote and strengthen the effectiveness of the IAEA safeguards system. Comprehensive Safeguards Agreements and in particular the Additional Protocols represent a verification standard, which needs to be universalized and further strengthened. Moreover, it should be applied as an obligatory condition for nuclear material and technology supply worldwide.

Mr. Chairman,

There is a clear need to build a stronger connection between nuclear safety and nuclear security. The forthcoming Nuclear Security Summit in the Republic of Korea and such initiatives as the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism (GICNT) might serve as frameworks for enhancement of the nuclear safety and security nexus. In addition, the role of the IAEA is vital in enhancing nuclear safety and security. In this regard, we fully support the Nuclear Safety Action Plan, which has just been endorsed at the IAEA General Conference in Vienna.

The development of any peaceful nuclear energy project in any state must be implemented with due responsibility to the population of their own and other states. Open and honest consultations with all potentially affected countries, constructive settling of transnational disputes, full transparency and information sharing must be a universal norm.

Finally, Lithuania attaches great importance to the CTBT regime. We welcome the countries, which ratified the Convention in 2011. At the same time, we remain concerned that none of the 9 remaining Annex II countries have ratified the Convention since the last Conference. Lithuania urges all States Parties that have not yet done so, to sign and ratify CTBT, without delay and without conditions.

Thank you.