For immediate release
22 September 2006
PRESS COMMUNIQUE - COMMUNIQUE PRESSE
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE VISIT TO
MOSCOW
Twelve NATO legislators as well as several members of the Russian State
Duma met in Moscow on 1921September to discuss the non-proliferation of
weapons of mass destruction (WMD), Iran's nuclear policy, anti-terrorism,
the redirection of former weapons scientists, space programmes and space
safety, future energy solutions and other important issues.
The STC delegation, led by Committee Chairman Michael Mates (United
Kingdom) and General Rapporteur Pierre Claude Nolin (Canada),
welcomed the frank and open discussions with
Russian parliamentarians, officials and independent analysts. Russian
participants stressed that their country's foreign policy philosophy is
based on the notion that current international problems should be solved
using the existing international mechanisms or even by creating new ones,
for instance, to regulate activities in space. Therefore, Russia supports
the strengthening and universalisation of the non-proliferation
agreements such as the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) or the
Biological Weapons Convention. At the same time, the Russian authorities
seem to endorse initiatives of international nuclear co-operation with
India, which is not a member of the NPT.
On the issue of Iran, there is an evident consensus in Russia that Moscow
will not support any sanctions against the Iranian regime. Russian
speakers also suggested that Iran could abandon its industrial-scale
uranium enrichment plans provided the US government agrees to recognise
the current Iranian regime. Members of the STC, however, expressed their
belief that a policy of indulgence would send a wrong signal and
undermine the credibility of the NPT.
The NATO legislators also visited the Russian Cosmonauts Training Center
"Zvezdny gorodok" ("Star City") and were impressed by
the achievements of the Russian space programme. At the center, they also
discussed the challenging issue of the space debris. The concerted
efforts of the international community are necessary in order to mitigate
this problem, which could seriously harm human activities in space.
For further information,
please contact
e-mail:
Press@nato-pa.int
NATO Parliamentary Assembly
Place du Petit Sablon 3, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
Tél: (32) 2 513 28 65 | Fax: (32) 2 514 18 47 |
website: http://
www.nato-pa.int
|
Background
The NATO Parliamentary Assembly, founded in 1955 with a
Brussels-based secretariat,
brings together 248national parliamentarians from the 26 NATO countries.
In addition, 13 associate delegations from Central and Eastern Europe,
Ukraine and Russia;
4Mediterranean Associate delegations: Morocco, algeria, Jordan,
Israel
and 8 Parliamentary Observer delegations participate in Assembly
activities and meetings.