President of U.N. General Assembly says establishment of working group is option for advancing nuclear disarmament
Sep. 18, 2015
by Kyosuke Mizukawa, Staff Writer
On September 8, Mogens Lykketoft, the president of the 70th Regular Session of the U.N. General Assembly, which will open on September 15, visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Naka Ward. Mr. Lykketoft said that the establishment of a working group to investigate “effective measures,” including legal provisions, to promote nuclear disarmament is a viable option. The idea of this working group had been included in the draft of the final document at this past spring’s Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT).
Mr. Lykketoft spoke with Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui at the International Conference Center Hiroshima. In line with a proposal made at the U.N. Conference on Disarmament Issues, which took place in Hiroshima in August, Mr. Matsui asked that Mr. Lykketoft establish the working group. Mr. Lykketoft responded positively, saying that, as president, he would do his best to have the nuclear weapon states join negotiations for nuclear disarmament. Establishing the working group was one option, he later said, and stressed the importance of engaging major nations in serious talks in whatever way is possible.
In Denmark, Mr. Lykketoft served as the chairman of the national assembly and the nation’s foreign minister. In June he was elected the next president of the U.N. General Assembly. His visit to Japan was at the invitation of Japan’s Foreign Ministry. On the same day, he offered flowers at the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims and visited the Peace Memorial Museum. He also listened to the account of an A-bomb survivor and signed the visitors’ register at the museum with the message that his visit made him aware of the urgent need to promote the abolition of nuclear arms.
(Originally published on September 9, 2015)
On September 8, Mogens Lykketoft, the president of the 70th Regular Session of the U.N. General Assembly, which will open on September 15, visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Naka Ward. Mr. Lykketoft said that the establishment of a working group to investigate “effective measures,” including legal provisions, to promote nuclear disarmament is a viable option. The idea of this working group had been included in the draft of the final document at this past spring’s Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT).
Mr. Lykketoft spoke with Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui at the International Conference Center Hiroshima. In line with a proposal made at the U.N. Conference on Disarmament Issues, which took place in Hiroshima in August, Mr. Matsui asked that Mr. Lykketoft establish the working group. Mr. Lykketoft responded positively, saying that, as president, he would do his best to have the nuclear weapon states join negotiations for nuclear disarmament. Establishing the working group was one option, he later said, and stressed the importance of engaging major nations in serious talks in whatever way is possible.
In Denmark, Mr. Lykketoft served as the chairman of the national assembly and the nation’s foreign minister. In June he was elected the next president of the U.N. General Assembly. His visit to Japan was at the invitation of Japan’s Foreign Ministry. On the same day, he offered flowers at the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims and visited the Peace Memorial Museum. He also listened to the account of an A-bomb survivor and signed the visitors’ register at the museum with the message that his visit made him aware of the urgent need to promote the abolition of nuclear arms.
(Originally published on September 9, 2015)
