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Unit 6Nuclear Weapons-Free Zones (NWFZ) and WMD-Free Zones (WMDFZ)Chapter 6: The EU and NWFZ/WMDFZ
All chapters
  1. 1. Introduction
  2. 2. The History of the NWFZs
  3. 3. Current NWFZs – Common Elements and Individualities
  4. 4. Open Issues
  5. 5. Case Study - The debate about a WMD-Free Zone in the Middle East
  6. 6. The EU and NWFZ/WMDFZ
  7. 7. Summary and Further Reading
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Chapter 6

The EU and NWFZ/WMDFZ

Being on the frontline between the two Cold War adversaries, the NATO and the Warsaw Treaty Organization, on October 1957 Polish Foreign Minister Adam Rapacki introduced a plan to the UN General Assembly to establish a nuclear weapon-free zone in Central Europe, including the People’s Republic of Poland, the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic. The zone proposal was later extended to include Czechoslovakia. During the Cold War there were other proposals at establishing a NWFZ in some part of Europe (the Balkans, the Mediterranean, the Nordic initiatives), yet the idea of a Central European NWFZ was raised again following the regime changes, especially during the NATO extension process there. Between 1990-1995 Belarus put forward three proposals, however, no European NWFZ/WMDFZ has been established to this day.1

Nevertheless, the withdrawal of the US tactical nuclear weapons deployed in some EU member states in the framework of the NATO nuclear sharing has been raised on a national level among domestic political parties, e. g. in Germany and the Netherlands.

While the European Union supports NWFZs in general, and the establishment of a NWFZ/WMDFZ in the Middle East in particular, an eventual European NWFZ would have several obstacles. First of all, there are different types of states among the potential members: NWS, NATO NNWS with nuclear weapons on their territory, NATO NNWS which had formerly nuclear weapons on their territory, as well as NATO NNWS with no “history” of nuclear weapons. [For a detailed analysis see Harald Müller et al.: A Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone in Europe …]

In the course of Russia’s war in the Ukraine the eventual possibility of the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons has been raised. Although no nuclear weapons have been used so far, an element included in other bilateral or multilateral agreements, namely, the prohibition of armed attacks on nuclear on nuclear installations, has been clearly violated by Russia. And although it refers to non-European territory, Russia is a signatory to the Protocols of the Pelindaba Treaty, Article 11 of which includes the clear prohibition.

Footnotes

  1. Harald Müller – Giorgio Franceschini – Aviv Melamud – Daniel Müller – Anna Péczeli – Annette Schaper: A Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone in Europe: Concept – Problems – Chances. Federal Ministry for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Austria. May 2015, pp. 1-92. Available at bmeia.gv.at (www). ↩

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