The Tenth NPT Review Conference is ongoing, but apart from the Conference there are various side-events, dedicated to the relevant problems of the sphere. One of them was the event, jointly organized by the UN Counter-Terrorism Center and the EU, where the parties discussed the problem of nuclear terrorism.
During the meeting heads of various international organizations and their subdivisions made their speeches, Jehangir Khan, the head of the UN Counter-Terrorism Center (UNCCT) and the Counter-Terrorism Office (UNOCT) and Vladimir Voronkov, Under-Secretary-General for Counter-Terrorism, Executive Director of UNCCT/UNOCT were among them. The EU side was represented by Amb. Marjolijn van Deelen, European Union Special Envoy for Non-proliferation and Disarmament.
Representatives of other UN offices – for disarmament Affairs, Drugs and Crime, legal affairs, as well as Interpol and the IAEA - also expressed their position on the topic under consideration. Finally, the points of view of the ICSANT participating countries - Iraq, Tajikistan, Russia and the USA – were presented.
The participants of the side-event demonstrated that theri opinions are mostly unanimous: the fight against nuclear terrorism is being conducted quite successfully, UNOCT/UNCCT has established comprehensive cooperation with other bodies, related to the issue. The results of ICSANT universalization were also presented during the meeting - it was noted that the Department regularly conducts workshops, conferences and advanced training on the topic of nuclear terrorism in various countries. Another topic for discussion was the problem of provocations on the nuclear facilities, which could lead to catastrophic nuclear consequences.
Thus, the topic of nuclear terrorism was raised in two dimensions at once during the work of the NPT Review Committee. In the first case, at the UNOCT/UNCCT and EU event, it was about countering mainly non-State nuclear terrorism. Indeed, the relevant international and State bodies are working quite productively in this area. While the problem of the acts to be referred as "nuclear provocations" received less attention, anyway the important fact is that is appeared in the agenda and could be elaborated in the future.
Source: UN
