OPCW Director-General Meets Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs and Addresses NATO Conference in Warsaw

The NATO conference attracted 170 senior officials representing more than 40 NATO and partner nations, including from the organisation’s Mediterranean Dialogue and Istanbul Cooperation Initiative, the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Asia-Pacific region.

The OPCW Director-General, Ambassador Rogelio Pfirter, paid a visit to Poland on 9 and 10 December 2009. In Warsaw he met with Poland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, H.E. Mr Radoslaw Sikorski, and other senior Polish officials, and addressed the first annual NATO conference on WMD Arms Control, Disarmament and Non-Proliferation.

In their meeting, Foreign Minister Sikorski commended the OPCW for its progress in implementing the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) and reaffirmed Poland’s firm support to the Convention and the work of the Organisation. The Director-General expressed his appreciation for the support and updated the Foreign Minister on the status of CWC implementation, including the outcomes of the recent 14th Session of the Conference of the States Parties.

The NATO conference attracted 170 senior officials representing more than 40 NATO and partner nations, including from the organisation’s Mediterranean Dialogue and Istanbul Cooperation Initiative, the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Asia-Pacific region. In his address Director-General Pfirter reviewed the main characteristics of the CWC including universality, destruction of chemical weapons, non-proliferation, national implementation, assistance and protection, and meeting the new challenge of chemical terrorism.

“The interaction and evolving cooperation between the OPCW, NATO and other international and regional organisations is essential to realising our common aspirations for an international system that is secure and based on effective multilateralism,” the Director-General said. “The OPCW has proved to be a successful experiment in true multilateralism as a forum for consultation and cooperation, where Member States have reached agreement on sensitive and complex issues and made effective progress toward implementing the Convention.”

During his visit to Warsaw the Director-General also met with Minister Aleksander Szczyglo, Head of the Bureau of National Security, Chancellery of the President, and with Mr Darius Bogdan, Under-secretary of State, Ministry of Economy.

OPCW NEWS 58/2009

Categories: Disarmament, Non-proliferation of chemical weapons, Outreach