| Encourages ratification
of Treaty ‘without delay’
A NATO ministerial session resulted in a strong endorsement for the
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.
The Defense Planning Committee and the Nuclear Planning Group of the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization, after meeting in Brussels December 2, stated:
“We fully support the goal that the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty should enter
into force as soon as possible and, to this end, encourage all states to sign and
ratify the Treaty without delay.”
NATO allies first showed their overwhelming commitment to the Comprehensive Test
Ban Treaty when all 16 members -- Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece,
Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, the United
Kingdom and the United States -- signed the Treaty the day it opened for signature at
the United Nations September 24, 1996. The three proposed
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NATO members -- the Czech
Republic, Hungary and Poland -- have also signed the Treaty and one, the Czech Republic,
has ratified it.
President Clinton, the first to sign the Treaty, said that day,
“This Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty will help to prevent the
nuclear powers from developing more advanced and more
dangerous weapons. It will limit the ability of other states to acquire such devices
themselves. It points us toward a century in which the roles and risks of nuclear weapons
can be further reduced, and ultimately eliminated.
“The signature of the world’s declared nuclear powers -- the United States, China,
France, Russia and the United Kingdom -- along with those of the vast majority of
its nations, will immediately create an international norm against nuclear testing,
even before the treaty formally enters into force.”
The CTBT, submitted to the U.S. Senate September 22, 1997, marks an historic milestone
in our efforts to reduce the nuclear threat and build a safer world.
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