Austrian document on nuclear abolition supported by 86 nations
May 26, 2015
by Michiko Tanaka, Staff Writer
NEW YORK--The Austrian government has announced that the Austrian Pledge, in which the Austrian government vows to make efforts to advance the abolition of nuclear weapons, has been renamed the Humanitarian Pledge. The document has been presented at the Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT), now in session at United Nations headquarters in New York, and, as of May 18, is supported by 86 nations, including Austria and the Palestinian Authority.
The change was announced on May 18 at the First Committee (Disarmament) of the Review Conference. The representative of the Austrian government stated that the pledge was renamed to reflect the fact that it is no longer a pledge by a single country, with nearly half the NPT signatories expressing their support for it. The document, which calls for pursuing effective measures to fill the “legal gap” in order to ban and eliminate nuclear weapons, was presented at the Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons held in December 2014, chaired by Austria, and was distributed to all U.N. member states in January this year. Japan, which is protected under the U.S. nuclear umbrella, has not endorsed the document.
(Originally published on May 20, 2015)
NEW YORK--The Austrian government has announced that the Austrian Pledge, in which the Austrian government vows to make efforts to advance the abolition of nuclear weapons, has been renamed the Humanitarian Pledge. The document has been presented at the Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT), now in session at United Nations headquarters in New York, and, as of May 18, is supported by 86 nations, including Austria and the Palestinian Authority.
The change was announced on May 18 at the First Committee (Disarmament) of the Review Conference. The representative of the Austrian government stated that the pledge was renamed to reflect the fact that it is no longer a pledge by a single country, with nearly half the NPT signatories expressing their support for it. The document, which calls for pursuing effective measures to fill the “legal gap” in order to ban and eliminate nuclear weapons, was presented at the Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons held in December 2014, chaired by Austria, and was distributed to all U.N. member states in January this year. Japan, which is protected under the U.S. nuclear umbrella, has not endorsed the document.
(Originally published on May 20, 2015)
