Støre keynote at the Carnegie International Non-Proliferation Conference in Washington DC

April 8, 2009

Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre. Photo: Regjeringen.no

Widely considered the premier event in its field, on April 6-7 the 2009 Carnegie International Nonproliferation Conference attracted over 800 government officials, policy and technical experts, academics, and journalists from around the world at the Ronald Reagan International Trade Center in Washington, D.C. Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre was one of the keynote speakers at the event.

This year’s conference, “The Nuclear Order—Build or Break,” addressed the critical challenges confronting the nonproliferation regime and offered policy recommendations to stop the spread and use of nuclear weapons and materials.

Jonas Gahr Støre, said he sensed that the topic for the conference is again moving onto the international agenda”. The agreement between Presidents Obama and Medvedev on a “fresh start” was one telling sign. And President Obama’s speech in Prague last Sunday yet another clear signal, Støre said in his remarks. He continued by saying: “Norway welcomes the concrete steps outlined by President Obama. The speech indicates the U.S. leadership and much needed determination to advance nuclear disarmament and to strengthen the non-proliferation regime”.

Now, it is up to all of us to have these concrete steps implemented, said the Norwegian Foreign Minister.

“Norway – a non-nuclear weapon state – will do its part in setting this new agenda. Since 2005, we have been working through the Seven Nation Initiative. The initiative consists of both nuclear and non-nuclear weapon states. We are happy to work together with the United Kingdom, Australia, Indonesia, South Africa, Chile and Romania,” said Støre.

Over the last years, Norway has also been cooperating with a number of important think-thanks, in particular in the United States, with the aim of strengthening the agenda for non-proliferation and disarmament. We will continue this cooperation. “Engaging with these institutes gives us new ideas on how to move the disarmament and non-proliferation agenda forward,” said Støre.

To read the remarks by Jonas Gahr Støre, click here.