Brief Statement
by
H. E. Mr. GORDAN JANDROKOVIĆ
at the FIFTH CTBT MINISTERIAL MEETING
on the EARLY ENTRY INTO FORCE OF THE
COMPREHENSIVE NUСLEAR TEST-BAN TREATY
at the 65th Session of the UN General Assembly
New York, 23rd September 2010
Mr Chairman,
It is my great pleasure to take the floor under
your leadership of the Fifth CTBT Ministerial Meeting for the early
entry into force of the Treaty.
I am
confident that you will steer us toward a successful outcome of the
Conference and I would like to assure you that you can count on our
full support and cooperation.
Allow me also to express our gratitude to the Secretary General of the
UN and to the UN Secretariat for organizing this event.
Our
deep appreciation goes as well to the Executive Secretary of the
Preparatory Commission of the CTBTO, Ambassador Tibor Toth, and his
staff for their dedicated work in building the CTBTO and especially the
Treaty's verification regime.
Croatia joined the EU statement and shares its content in its entirety.
However, I would like to add few thoughts in my national capacity.
Croatia has been an active participant in all CTBT Conferences and
ministerial meetings.
We
ratified the Treaty in 2001 and from that time on many activities have
been undertaken to promote the values of the Treaty, to give our
substantial contribution in verification activities and to establish
all necessary capacities for cooperation with the Provisional Technical
Secretariat.
The intensity of our cooperation was very evident
in 2006 when Croatia hosted the On-site Inspection Exercise with
participants from twenty countries.
I am glad to say that in
August this year the Croatian National Data Centre has been equipped
and tested and is now fully functional.
I hope that this brief
information was enough illustrative to show that Croatia is fully
committed to the successful future of the CTBTO.
Our
commitment rests on our awareness about the precious purpose and
importance of this Treaty in creating a world free of nuclear weapons,
for the sake of global stability and security.
But at the same
time we should not lose out of sight the CTBT’s relevance for civil
purposes such as early warning system, especially for all countries
like Croatia which do not have any nuclear program.
As the
universality of the Treaty is our final goal, its successful
ratification by the countries listed in the Annex 2 of the Treaty,
should remain our priority.
Achieving this goal would be a milestone in the non-proliferation of
nuclear weapons worldwide.
The CTBT has already proven its strength and validity among global
nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament regimes.
Croatia on its part will remain committed to a strong and continual
support in achieving our common goals.
Thank you!
