Permanent Representative of The Government of the Republic of Austria to the OPCW, H.E. Engelbert Theuermann, and the OPCW Director-General, Ambassador Fernando Arias
THE HAGUE, Netherlands—28 April 2026— The Government of the Republic of Austria has voluntarily contributed EUR 100,000 to the Trust Fund for Syria Missions.
The voluntary contribution will support Syria-related missions and activities carried out by the OPCW Technical Secretariat in line with its mandate. Its objectives include establishing the full scope of Syria’s chemical weapons programme, verifying all declarable elements, supporting the development and implementation of a destruction plan, and investigating allegations of chemical weapons use, including the identification of those responsible.
The voluntary contribution was formalised on 28 April 2026 in a signing ceremony held between the Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Austria to the OPCW, H.E. Mr Engelbert Theuermann, and the OPCW Director-General, Ambassador Fernando Arias, at the Organisation’s Headquarters in The Hague.
Ambassador Theuermann stated: “We are satisfied that Austria’s contribution to the OPCW Trust Fund for Syria supports the country’s full compliance with its Chemical Weapons Convention obligations, as well as its rehabilitation and socio-economic development. This voluntary contribution also demonstrates our trust in the activities of the Technical Secretariat.”
Director-General Arias stated: “Austria has been a valued partner of the OPCW, and I sincerely appreciate its continued support for the Technical Secretariat in fulfilling its mandate. Our work in Syria remains highly challenging, and the Technical Secretariat is committed to supporting Syria in meeting its obligations under the Convention. Sustained financial and political backing from the international community is essential to advancing our efforts to end the Syrian chemical weapons dossier at an early date.”
Background
Austria has been an active member of the OPCW since the Chemical Weapons Convention entered into force in 1997.
Since 2023, Austria has contributed a total of EUR 120,000 to OPCW’s trust funds, including the Trust Fund for International Support Network for Victims of Chemical Weapons and the Trust Fund for Syria Missions.
Syria acceded to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) in 2013 under a stringent verification regime. While Syria submitted an initial declaration of its chemical weapons (CW) programme, the former Syrian government did not declare all its CW programme and attempted – unsuccessfully – to mislead the international community about the overall scope and scale of the Syrian chemical weapons programme. Furthermore, the Technical Secretariat documented and independently confirmed chemical weapons use in Syria both by the former Syrian military forces and by non-state actors, specifically ISIS/ISIL.
The fall of the Assad government in December 2024 created an opportunity to uncover the full scope of Syria’s chemical weapons programme and to eliminate it in line with the CWC. In February 2025, the OPCW Director-General visited Syria and held separate meetings with the Syrian President and Foreign Minister. They expressed Syria’s recognition of all OPCW mandates, including the identification of perpetrators of chemical weapons use in Syria and reaffirmed Syria’s full commitment to fulfilling its obligations under the CWC. In March 2025, the Syrian Foreign Minister visited the OPCW and addressed the Executive Council, where he renewed Syria’s commitment to the Convention.
Since the visit by the Director-General to Damascus in February 2025, the OPCW Technical Secretariat deployed several times to Syria, involving visits to suspected locations, sampling, interviews, collection of documents related to Syria’s chemical weapons programme, and coordination.
Since November 2025, OPCW has re-established a continuous presence in Syria to facilitate upcoming inventory, destruction and verification-related activities. The work related to the Syrian chemical weapons dossier – verification of declarations and investigation of use of toxic chemicals as weapons – is now coordinated by the OPCW Office of Special Missions.
As the implementing body for the Chemical Weapons Convention, the OPCW, with its 193 Member States, oversees the global endeavour to permanently eliminate chemical weapons. Since the Convention’s entry into force in 1997, it is the most successful disarmament treaty in eliminating an entire class of weapons of mass destruction.
In 2023, the OPCW verified that all chemical weapons stockpiles declared by the 193 States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention since 1997 — totalling 72,304 metric tonnes of chemical agents — have been irreversibly destroyed under the OPCW’s strict verification regime.
For its extensive efforts in eliminating chemical weapons, the OPCW received the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize.