24 September 2010

Address by the Minister Alkalaj at the Ministerial Meeting of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization implementation

On September 23, 2010, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mr. Sven Alkalaj participated at the Ministerial Meeting of the Organization for the implementation of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBTO) in New York.

In his address, Minister Alkalaj said that BiH, as a country with still fresh memories of the devastating war consequences, the disarmament and the prohibition of weapons of mass destruction are at the top of the foreign policy priorities. He emphasized that marking the 18 years of membership in the United Nations, our country can proudly say that it has signed, ratified and complied with all relevant multilateral instruments in the area of disarmament and non-proliferation. Speaking about activities of our country, he informed that in BiH, inter alia, in cooperation with the Secretariat of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) was held a regional seminar on implementation of the UN Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Stockpiling, Transfer and Use of Chemical Weapons and their Destruction (Chemical Weapons Convention).

Minister Alkalaj pointed out that BiH, as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for 2010-2011, has an active role in the activities with the aim to ease the current tensions created as a result of decisions of individual countries to pursue nuclear programs, contrary to the UN Security Council resolutions and beyond the IAEA safety framework. At the end of his speech, Mr. Alkalaj, stressing the importance of the CTBT in the disarmament and non-proliferation system, said that it is required to redouble the efforts so that this Treaty enters into force.

All present were addressed by the UN Secretary General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon. Of 182 countries that have signed the Treaty, 153 countries have ratified it, including BiH who did so in 2006.