Report
on the visit to the European Parliament by the Mayor of Hiroshima
- 19 January 2005
As
part of the Mayors for Peace Campaign, Mr Akiba, Mayor of Hiroshima
and founder of the Mayors for Peace network, visited the European
Parliament on Wednesday 19 January. In the morning Mr Akiba addressed
the Foreign Affairs Committee on the need for the world to turn
away from the nuclear threat.
This
is a highly topical issue. The 7th Review Conference of the Treaty
on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) takes place in
May 2005. The NPT is a key international treaty for preventing the
proliferation of nuclear weapons and to further the goal of nuclear
disarmament. The NPT is currently under threat because the Nuclear
Weapon States, (Britain, France, USA, China and Russia) who signed
the Treaty, have failed to effectively pursue nuclear non-proliferation
and disarmament. In addition, states who have not signed the NPT
have also undertaken nuclear activities. Israel, India and Pakistan
have developed nuclear weapons capabilities and are not interested
in joining, while North Korea has withdrawn from the NPT. All EU
Member States have signed the NPT (including Britain and France
with their nuclear weapons capabilities) and as the Mayor noted
in his speech; “Europe has an historic role to play in leading
humanity toward a nuclear-weapon-free future”.
After
speaking at the Foreign Affairs Committee, Mr. Akiba met with representatives
from European peace groups to discuss their plans for action leading
up to the Review Conference in May. This was followed by lunch for
Mr Akiba’s delegation, hosted by the Co- Presidents of the
Intergroup for Peace Initiatives, (a forum for MEPs to discuss and
debate peace issues), Tobias Pflüger (GUE - Germany) and Caroline
Lucas (Greens - EFA - UK).
After
lunch Mr Akiba’s delegation attended a hearing in the Foreign
Affairs and Defence Committees of both the House of Representatives
and Senate in the Belgian Parliament. Mr Akiba then returned to
the European Parliament for a reception hosted by the Intergroup
for Peace Initiatives which was attended by MEPs and representatives
of European peace groups.
The
Mayor’s delegation then departed for Antwerp and the day’s
events concluded with a panel between MEPs and European peace groups
working on Nuclear Disarmament. Key issues raised were the next
steps that would need to be taken by the European Parliament to
move the issue of nuclear abolition forward.
Robin
Bloomfield
(This
Article first appeared in the February 2005 edition of Around
Europe)
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on the NPT
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