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Spindelegger: More support for mine victims |
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Foreign Minister Spindelegger commits to a world without nuclear weapons and demands greater support for mine victimsGeneva, 2 September 2009 - "A nuclear-free world - today, this objective is no longer a question of ideology or military doctrine, but one of necessity and common sense", said Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger during his visit to the Conference on Disarmament meeting today in Geneva. Austria took over the chairmanship of the conference in late August, shortly after the adoption of a work programme put an end to the 12-year blockade of the Conference on Disarmament. "Austria has taken over the chairmanship of the Disarmament Conference at a critical moment. We are fully aware of the responsibility that comes with this task", commented Spindelegger on the Austrian presidency. The Minister welcomed the new dynamism brought by President Obama into international disarmament activities. "Next year, the NPT Review Conference will show whether the many positive declarations and initiatives of recent months will also produce concrete results in nuclear disarmament. Austria will in any case put its traditional mediator role wholly to the service of consensus finding", continued the Foreign Minister, who also paid tribute to the role of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) in international security policy. Foreign Minister Spindelegger promised that Austria would continue to actively support the international disarmament efforts, also in the field of conventional weapons. He called for a quick ratification of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, and stressed the important role of the civil society for a necessary increase in public awareness on disarmament. The minister also took advantage of his visit to Geneva to present a study on the support of mine victims financed by Austria. Together with the International Committee of the Red Cross and the non-governmental organization Handicap International, he emphasized the need to integrate all victims, their families and communities in the aid efforts. "Ten years after the successful completion of the Ottawa Convention, this dreadful weapon has been sustainably condemned on an international scale. Victim protection, however, is a long-term concern that still requires a lot of effort", stressed the minister. The Geneva Conference on Disarmament is an important multilateral negotiation forum for disarmament. The conference's 65 members include the five permanent UN Security Council members and other states like India, Israel, Pakistan, and North Korea. Countries like Austria and Sweden traditionally assume a mediating role at the conference. Throughout one year, the chairmanship of the conference is divided among six states. In 2009, Austria will share the chairmanship with Australia, Algeria, Argentina, Vietnam, and Zimbabwe.
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