Statement by Egypt at the 1st Session of the Conference on the Establishment of a Middle East Zone Free of Nuclear Weapons and Other WMD

Statement by Egypt at the 1st Session of the Conference on the Establishment of a Middle East Zone Free of Nuclear Weapons and Other WMD

Egypt strongly expresses its support for convening of the first ME WMDFZ conference after the decades-long wait for a serious process to begin. While it regrets the absence of one regional state, Egypt sees the conference as an opportunity for a constructive discussion with all other present regional states parties and four of the five Nuclear Weapon States. The statement notes that the ME WMDFZ does not need to start from scratch and can draw upon international WMD treaties and organizations as well as from already established nuclear weapon free zone. Finally, Egypt highlights that it had no prior judgement on the form and content of a ME WMDFZ treaty and, like other treaties, negotiations should not be prevented or halted due to non-proliferation of all parties who have the option of joining at a later stage.