The Hague, 11 September 2002

The Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of El Salvador, H. E. Ms Maria Eugenia Brizuela de Avila paid a visit to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) on Tuesday 10 September 2002. During her visit the Foreign Minister met with the Director-General of the Technical Secretariat of the OPCW and addressed the Executive Council of the OPCW which is currently holding its Thirtieth session.

In her address to the Executive Council, the Minister emphasised that El Salvador regarded the Chemical Weapons Convention as “a cornerstone in the search for multilateral solutions to prevent risks of an arms race”. She stressed that El Salvador was a staunch supporter of the Convention and of the OPCW, which was responsible for “achieving the destruction of chemical weapons by the year 2007.”

The Minister used the occasion of her visit to issue a strong appeal to the members of the Council to bring the remaining signatory and non-signatory States within the OPCW’s fold. This was imperative to prevent any country from being used as a safe haven for terrorists contemplating the use of chemical weapons. The Minister mentioned in this regard that small states were more vulnerable to catastrophes because they did not have the capacity to cope with the consequences of use of weapons of mass destruction by terrorist groups.

The Minister concluded her statement by urging Member States to strengthen “the operability of the Convention seeking to exclude completely the possibility of use of chemical weapons” and to prevent the proliferation of chemical weapons.