Stockholm to Host Luxembourg Forum and SIPRI Joint Conference on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament Perspectives after Entry into Force of the New START Treaty

On June 13-14, 2011, Stockholm will host a joint conference of Luxembourg Forum on Preventing Nuclear Catastrophe and Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) billed as Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament Perspectives after Entry into Force of the New START Treaty. The conference will bring together world’s leading experts, including prominent politicians and public activists in the sphere of arms control, and non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and means of delivery.

The attendance has been confirmed by President of the Luxembourg Forum Viatcheslav Kantor, Chairman of the SIPRI Governing Board Göran Lennmarker, SIPRI Director Bates Gill, members of the Forum’s Supervisory Council, including former U.S. Secretary of Defense William Perry, former IAEA Director General Hans Blix, and former OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Rolf Ekéus;a former Director General of Saudi Arabia's Al General Intelligence Directorate and ambassador to the United Kingdom and the United States His Royal Highness Prince Turki bin Faisal Al Saud, members of the SIPRI Governing Board, including President of the Pugwash Conferences Jayantha Dhanapala, Deputy Director of the Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO) of the Russian Academy of Sciences Vladimir Baranovsky, Assistant Minister/State Secretary for Foreign Affairs of Indonesia Dewi Fortuna Anvar, Head of the International Security Centre of IMEMO of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexei Arbatov, Chair of Luxembourg Forum Organizing Committee, Principal researcher of the IMEMO, Russian Academy of Sciences, Major General, ret. Vladimir Dvorkin, President of Center for Policy Studies (PIR Center) Vladimir Orlov, Vice President for Studies and Director of the Nonproliferation Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace George Perkovich, Director of the Institute for Strategic Assessments Sergei Oznobishchev, Senior Fellow for Non-Proliferation at the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies Mark Fitzpatrick.

The Conference will discuss the current state and prospects of nuclear non-proliferation, ballistic missile defense cooperation as the key issue of further nuclear disarmament, as well as the status and prospects of resolving the Iranian nuclear crisis.

The event will begin on June, 13 at 10:00 a.m. at Konferens 7A, Strandvägen 7A, Stockholm. The press conference will start at 12:00 a.m.

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The International Luxembourg Forum on Preventing Nuclear Catastrophe was established pursuant to a decision of the International Conference on Preventing Nuclear Catastrophe, held in Luxembourg on May 24-25, 2007. The Luxembourg Forum is the largest expert institution of its kind uniting leading, world-renowned experts on non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, arms reduction and control. The Forum was established to counteract growing threats to the nuclear non-proliferation regime and erosion of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), as well as to promote international peace and security through new approaches and by presenting practical recommendations to decision-makers on nuclear non-proliferation and arms control critical issues. Viatcheslav Kantor is the Forum’s President.

On December 8-9, 2009, an annual meeting of the Supervisory Council took place in Moscow. Besides the Supervisory Council members, the meeting was attended by Deputy Director General of State Atomic Energy Corporation (Rosatom) Nikolai Spassky, as well as a newly elected member of the Forum’s Supervisory Council Gareth Evans, Co-chairman of the International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament. The meeting discussed most acute issues in the sphere of nuclear weapons non-proliferation and strategic arms reduction.

As part of the Moscow session agenda, the Supervisory Council met with the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov and Deputy Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation General Yury Baluevsky. The meeting adopted the final document which was circulated to global leaders and heads of international organizations. The EU and NATO expressed their interest in the final document.

A meeting of the Luxembourg Forum Working Group on April 8-9, 2010, in Vienna addressed perspectives of forthcoming 2010 NPT Review Conference and analyzed the new START Treaty. The meeting issued a memorandum containing proposals on ways to strengthen the nuclear non-proliferation regime and circulated it to the world leaders.

On September 20-21, “2010: Achievements and Prospects of Non-proliferation and Disarmament” international conference took place in Washington, which underscored the vital importance of early ratification of the new START Treaty. The meetings in the U.S. State Department and Senate held after the sessions, helped provide additional arguments in favor of the entry into force of the Treaty and identify possible avenues for cooperation between Russia, the U.S. and other NATO states in establishing European and global ABM system. Detailed recommendations were reflected in the final document sent to heads of the leading nuclear states and major international organizations dealing with the security issues.

The recent annual meeting of the Forum’s Supervisory Council was held in Moscow, on December 8-9, 2010. Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Sergei Ryabov opened the meeting and read the address by the Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to the meeting participants, which recognized the Forum’s importance for strengthening the NPT regime, improving arms control tools and preventing nuclear terror threat. President Medvedev also stressed that proposals and recommendations of the Luxembourg Forum have been practically implemented to address international issues. The Declaration adopted as the outcome of the meeting was circulated to heads of leading states and international organizations.