EU’s Michel for nuclear disarmament amid Russian threat to global security

Tokyo, May 13 (EFE).- European Council President Charles Michel Friday advocated for strengthening international rules for nuclear disarmament, noting that the Russian invasion of Ukraine had threatened global security.

He spoke during his visit to Hiroshima, the first city to suffer an atomic bombing at the end of World War II.

“We have international rules and global institutions for nuclear disarmament and arms control. We must protect and strengthen them to secure peace and security,” Michel said.

He said his visit to the Hiroshima Peace Museum had left him with “a deep feeling of sorrow and of horror.”

“The suffering and the devastation that occurred here and in Nagasaki is haunting, even today, 77 years later,” he said.

Michel noted that global security was “under threat” from North Korea and Russia, a nuclear-armed state and permanent United Nations Security Council member.

“(Russia) is attacking the sovereign nation of Ukraine, while making shameful and unacceptable references to the use of nuclear weapons,” he said.

He said the Russian invasion had not only shaken the security of Europe but it “is dangerously raising the stakes for the whole world.”

“And here, in your neighborhood, North Korea’s illegal and provocative missile tests, like the one that took place only yesterday, are driving up tensions and endangering our safety.”

Michel visited Hiroshima, the city that, along with Nagasaki, witnessed more than 200,000 deaths due to the nuclear hit, as part of a visit to Japan with the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.

“I also leave this museum seized by an intense determination to rid the world of weapons of mass destruction, and this city is a stark reminder of the urgency,” he said.

“Our generation’s duty is to strengthen existing nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation norms and make them universal.”

He recalled his meeting with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Thursday.

“We also stand together for the complete, verifiable, and irreversible dismantlement of North Korea’s nuclear weapons, and we agreed to reinforce our cooperation on security and defense, including on disarmament and non-proliferation.” EFE

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