The atomic saber rattle from North Korea and the struggle for the nuclear agreement with Iran are noticed worldwide. Nevertheless, the awareness of the danger of nuclear weapons in Europe is not really strong, says nuclear test guard Robert Floyd.
The new General Secretary of the International Organization for the Supervision of the Ban on Nuclear Tests (CTBTO), Robert Floyd, has warned of nuclear war.
“I see two things as threatening the very existence of mankind: one is climate change and the other is the outbreak of a nuclear war,” said the Australian diplomat of the German Press Agency in Vienna. Although this is a global problem, awareness of the danger of nuclear weapons is not the same everywhere.
At the beginning of the month, Floyd took over the management of the CTBTO, which is based in Vienna. Around the globe, the organization has a total of around 300 stations that can measure atomic explosions. With the help of such data, it has been possible, for example, to analyze the nuclear tests that North Korea, which is largely isolated internationally, has undertaken in recent years.
The Australian warned that the use of nuclear weapons could not only induce other states to emulate, but would also have global effects on the environment. Nevertheless, attention in Europe is not as much focused on this problem as, for example, in the Pacific region: “The concern is not evenly distributed.”
Although the nuclear test ban treaty is widely accepted, the 1996 pact is still not formally in force. Eight countries have not yet signed up to the agreement – including the important nuclear powers USA, China and Israel as well as North Korea and Iran. Floyd, who spent a long time in nuclear diplomacy for Australia, now wants to speak to these countries individually.
The tense geopolitical situation does not make this easier, he told the dpa. “One should not underestimate how difficult it will be until something moves forward in some of these countries.” Floyd expressed concern over new nuclear missile silos in China and the recent increase in the ceiling of Britain’s nuclear arsenal. However, such developments underscored “all the more the importance of an effective ban on nuclear tests”.
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