Foreign ministers’ meeting in Hiroshima: Written Interview with Federica Mogherini, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
Apr. 2, 2016
What do you hope to experience in Hiroshima?
It will be my first time in Hiroshima, and it is a long-awaited first visit. I have always campaigned and worked for nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, since my very first years in politics. Hiroshima stands as the most powerful reminder of the importance of our daily fight against all weapons of mass destruction.
Every year, on August 6th, I try to take some time to remember the victims of the first atomic bomb and all that came after it, through the “balance of terror” age. I once had the opportunity to meet with a group of Hibakusha (atomic bomb survivors), an experience I will never forget. Their testimony is the most powerful warning against nuclear temptations, and it is vital that we keep the memory of their story alive. I really look forward to visiting the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims together with the G7 foreign ministers: I am sure it will be a touching and inspiring moment for the whole of us.
What hopes do you have for the foreign ministers’ meeting?
This will be a very intense meeting, in challenging times for global peace and security. The issues on the agenda will span from the threats coming from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to conflicts in the Middle East, from the situation in Ukraine to the tensions in the South China Sea. On each of these files it is vital for world powers to avoid confrontational approaches and look for stronger cooperation instead. Instability in our regions impacts negatively on the whole of us, on our security and on our economies.
Do you support “a world without nuclear weapons”? What should be done to realize such a world?
We have finally started to understand that nuclear weapons do not improve our own security: in fact, they weaken it dramatically. This is even more true in an era when the threats to peace are much more fragmented.
The deal we reached last year on Iran’s nuclear program put the bases for a turning point in the fight for non-proliferation. And more: with the latest UN Security Council resolution on North Korea, the international community has displayed unprecedented unity on non-proliferation. We need to keep the momentum and move further.
The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) is still far from being fully applied. The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) must finally enter into force. The idea of “a Middle East free of all weapons of mass destruction” should not be considered as just a daydream. Only through courageous leadership and grassroots mobilisation will we achieve “a world without nuclear weapons.”
Do you have any suggestions as to what the youth of Hiroshima can do to promote peace?
Your mothers and fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers were the ones to rebuild Hiroshima so impressively after the end of World War II. Now it is time to leave your legacy. Never wait for someone else to write your own future.
(Originally published on April 2, 2016)
Read the full interview here.
It will be my first time in Hiroshima, and it is a long-awaited first visit. I have always campaigned and worked for nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, since my very first years in politics. Hiroshima stands as the most powerful reminder of the importance of our daily fight against all weapons of mass destruction.
Every year, on August 6th, I try to take some time to remember the victims of the first atomic bomb and all that came after it, through the “balance of terror” age. I once had the opportunity to meet with a group of Hibakusha (atomic bomb survivors), an experience I will never forget. Their testimony is the most powerful warning against nuclear temptations, and it is vital that we keep the memory of their story alive. I really look forward to visiting the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims together with the G7 foreign ministers: I am sure it will be a touching and inspiring moment for the whole of us.
What hopes do you have for the foreign ministers’ meeting?
This will be a very intense meeting, in challenging times for global peace and security. The issues on the agenda will span from the threats coming from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to conflicts in the Middle East, from the situation in Ukraine to the tensions in the South China Sea. On each of these files it is vital for world powers to avoid confrontational approaches and look for stronger cooperation instead. Instability in our regions impacts negatively on the whole of us, on our security and on our economies.
Do you support “a world without nuclear weapons”? What should be done to realize such a world?
We have finally started to understand that nuclear weapons do not improve our own security: in fact, they weaken it dramatically. This is even more true in an era when the threats to peace are much more fragmented.
The deal we reached last year on Iran’s nuclear program put the bases for a turning point in the fight for non-proliferation. And more: with the latest UN Security Council resolution on North Korea, the international community has displayed unprecedented unity on non-proliferation. We need to keep the momentum and move further.
The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) is still far from being fully applied. The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) must finally enter into force. The idea of “a Middle East free of all weapons of mass destruction” should not be considered as just a daydream. Only through courageous leadership and grassroots mobilisation will we achieve “a world without nuclear weapons.”
Do you have any suggestions as to what the youth of Hiroshima can do to promote peace?
Your mothers and fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers were the ones to rebuild Hiroshima so impressively after the end of World War II. Now it is time to leave your legacy. Never wait for someone else to write your own future.
(Originally published on April 2, 2016)
Read the full interview here.
