TPNW enforced without German Signature

File Photo File Photo

NEW YORK, 22 January, 2021 (TON): The treaty to ban nuclear weapons happens to enter to force on Friday without the German signature, the host of U.S. warheads.

The international pact has been ratified by 51 states, though none of them are the nuclear powers.

The UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) halts its signatories to produce, stockpile, sell, and use nuclear weapons. Whereas, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), has hailed it as a milestone.

ICAN’s representative in Brussels, Leo Hoffmann-Axthelm, told the media that from now on there would be "much more pressure on nuclear powers to finally make good on their old promises to disarm."

Efforts toward nuclear disarmament have stagnated in recent years. Just a handful of powers possess the world's estimated 13,400 nuclear warheads. Some 90% are owned by the US and Russia, with the rest shared among China, France, Britain, Pakistan, India, North Korea and presumably Israel — an undeclared nuclear power.

The states involved are more interested in the modernization than disarmament of the nuclear arsenals.

However, many non-nuclear states are unwilling to accept the situation.

In 2017, 122 states voted in the favor of the prohibition treaty, 51 have since ratified, the reason it got into force.

Mainly, states in Africa, Latin America and Asia have ratified the treaty so far. In Europe, only Ireland, Austria, Malta and Liechtenstein have joined on.

The world's main nuclear powers have so far refused to ratify it, as have NATO's 30 member states which consider atomic weapons essential for reasons of deterrence.

As long as nuclear weapons exist, it will remain a nuclear alliance, National Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) insisted.

An estimated 20 U.S. nuclear bombs are stored at Buchel Air Base in Southwest Germany under a NATO nuclear weapons sharing agreement. German air force pilots would fly the planes that drop the bombs in times of emergency. In an annual NATO nuclear exercise named Steadfast Noon that involves personnel from several allied air forces, the scenario is practiced.

As a result, the German government has also refused to ratify the disarmament treaty.

Rate this item
(0 votes)
Login to post comments
Go to top