Fifty-six former presidents, prime ministers, foreign ministers and defence ministers from 20 NATO member states, as well as Japan and South Korea, have just issued an open letter calling on current leaders to join the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
The former UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon and two former NATO secretaries-general, Javier Solana and Willy Claes, are among the co-signers.
“This is the most significant demonstration of high-level support for the treaty that we have seen in these countries to date. We hope it will spark debate, including in parliaments, and help bring about shifts in national positions,” says Tim Wright, Treaty Coordinator of ICAN.
In the letter, the former leaders and ministers declare that “nuclear weapons serve no legitimate military or strategic purpose in light of the catastrophic human and environmental consequences of their use” and urge the current leaders to “show courage and boldness — and join the treaty”. They warn that the risk of nuclear weapons being used today, “whether by accident, miscalculation or design”, appears to be increasing, and state: “We must not sleepwalk into a crisis of even greater proportions than the one we have experienced this year.”
The co-signers are from Albania, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain and Turkey. The current leaders of these countries have so far declined to join the landmark United Nations treaty, arguing that their allies’ nuclear forces are essential for their security. “This letter is a reflection of the growing public opinion against nuclear weapons. We are confident that over time, with enough public pressure, these countries will come on board,” says Wright.
Read the letter (PDF) in English, French, German, Spanish
The 56 co-signers of the open letter in support of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons are:
Lloyd Axworthy, former foreign minister of Canada
Ban Ki-moon, former UN secretary-general and foreign minister of South Korea
Jean-Jacques Blais, former defence minister of Canada
Kjell Magne Bondevik, former prime minister and foreign minister of Norway
Ylli Bufi, former prime minister of Albania
Jean Chrétien, former prime minister of Canada
Willy Claes, former NATO secretary-general and foreign minister of Belgium
Erik Derycke, former foreign minister of Belgium
Joschka Fischer, former foreign minister of Germany
Franco Frattini, former foreign minister of Italy
Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir, former foreign minister of Iceland
Bjørn Tore Godal, former foreign minister and defence minister of Norway
Bill Graham, former foreign minister and defence minister of Canada
Hatoyama Yukio, former prime minister of Japan
Thorbjørn Jagland, former prime minister and foreign minister of Norway
Ljubica Jeluši?, former defence minister of Slovenia
T?lavs Jundzis, former defence minister of Latvia
Jan Kavan, former foreign minister of the Czech Republic
Alojz Krapež, former defence minister of Slovenia
?irts Valdis Kristovskis, former foreign minister and defence minister of Latvia
Aleksander Kwa?niewski, former president of Poland
Yves Leterme, former prime minister and foreign minister of Belgium
Enrico Letta, former prime minister of Italy
Eldbjørg Løwer, former defence minister of Norway
Mogens Lykketoft, former foreign minister of Denmark
John Mccallum, former defence minister of Canada
John Manley, former foreign minister of Canada
Rexhep Meidani, former president of Albania
Zdravko Mrši?, former foreign minister of Croatia
Linda M?rniece, former defence minister of Latvia
Fatos Nano, former prime minister of Albania
Holger K. Nielsen, former foreign minister of Denmark
Andrzej Olechowski, former foreign minister of Poland
Kjeld Olesen, former foreign minister and defence minister of Denmark
Ana Palacio, former foreign minister of Spain
Theodoros Pangalos, former foreign minister of Greece
Jan Pronk, former defence minister (ad interim) of the Netherlands
Vesna Pusi?, former foreign minister of Croatia
Dariusz Rosati, former foreign minister of Poland
Rudolf Scharping, former defence minister of Germany
Juraj Schenk, former foreign minister of Slovakia
Nuno Severiano Teixeira, former defence minister of Portugal
Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, former prime minister of Iceland
Össur Skarphéðinsson, former foreign minister of Iceland
Javier Solana, former NATO secretary-general and foreign minister of Spain
Anne-Grete Strøm-Erichsen, former defence minister of Norway
Hanna Suchocka, former prime minister of Poland
Szekeres Imre, former defence minister of Hungary
Tanaka Makiko, former foreign minister of Japan
Tanaka Naoki, former defence minister of Japan
Danilo Türk, former president of Slovenia
Hikmet Sami Türk, former defence minister of Turkey
The late John N. Turner, former prime minister of Canada*
Guy Verhofstadt, former prime minister of Belgium
Knut Vollebæk, former foreign minister of Norway
Carlos Westendorp y Cabeza, former foreign minister of Spain
| * ICAN would like to extend our condolences to the family of former Canadian prime minister John Turner, who passed away on 19 September 2020. |
