Ambassador Mahmoud Karem’s participation in the annual conference of the European Consortium for Non-Proliferation

During the period from 12^th to 14^th of December 2017, Ambassador Mahmoud Karem, member of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs, participated at the annual conference of the European Union for Non-Proliferation in Brussels. The conference gathered the largest number of international experts in the field of non-proliferation, including the High Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations for Disarmament, and Ambassador “Jacek Bekica” the European Union’s special envoy for disarmament and Non-Proliferation, and the Deputy Secretary-General of the Atlantic Alliance (NATO) and a host of other international figures.

– Mrs. / Mogherini High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Relations and Security Policy explained the EU’s interest in preventing nuclear proliferation, which represents the pivot of the Union for peace building and security policies, and she added that a short time ago, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed Iran’s commitment to compliance with the provisions of the Convention (JCPOA). It is considered a success for the European Union in establishing effective verification materials at the heart of the Convention, adding that she went to Washington last week and made it clear to the Congress that Iran’s agreement belongs to the world, not the United States and demanded to respect the Convention because there is no military solution for this problem nor the problem in North Korea.

– The United Nations High Commissioner for Disarmament stated that, in his statement to the General Assembly, the Secretary-General had identified seven challenges to the world, including the proliferation of arms and the need for nuclear disarmament. She added that we must now make an effort to ensure commitment to nuclear disarmament from nuclear states and to achieve additional reductions, especially atomic energy, and we must work to agree on points of convergence, not the other way around.

– NATO Secretary-General  Mrs. ‘Gottemoeller’ (American)  spoke of the challenges facing NATO in attempts to weaken the NPT through alternative frameworks; the North Korean problem and ballistic missiles, Russia’s aggressive policies and the misuse of the veto by the Security Council and Russia’s use of chemical weapons.The following ways to work with NATO were identified:

• Support for international sanctions and the export control system for rogue states and stop the financing of rascal regimes.

–         Support the Nuclear Nonproliferation mechanism and Security Council resolutions to prevent the use of weapons of mass destruction. –         Increase information cooperation between NATO and other countries to exchange information. -Regarding the establishment of a zone free of weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East, the problem is expected to continue to threaten the success of the NPT Review Conference in 2020 unless the mechanisms, agenda and organizational aspects of the conference, including the list of conference procedures and the format of the final document that will determine the steps towards creating that area, are agreed upon now.