Press Release, Prague, April 5, 2013

A group of parliamentarians from NATO countries addressed the US President Barack Obama with a letter supporting his efforts for global nuclear disarmament.

The initiative was developed in Prague, before the fourth anniversary of Obama’s ground-breaking speech on nuclear disarmament from April 5, 2009, by Senator Alena Gajduskova, First Vice-President of the Czech Senate, and undertaken in cooperation with the global network of Parliamentarians for Non-Proliferation and Disarmament (PNND).

“Four years ago, Obama’s proclamation in Prague opened a new era of peace development in the world. It was also for this reason, that Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. But even the most powerful man in the world can’t bring such a significant change by himself, without having support of other people. We are proud of the fact that the new global vision was articulated in our city, and that’s why I think that it is our obligation to support the vision of peaceful future – the vision of a world without nuclear weapons – from Prague,” says Gajduskova.

The letter was co-signed by 39 parliamentarians from the Czech Republic and other 10 NATO countries – Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Norway, Slovakia and United Kingdom.

In the letter parliamentarians affirm Obama’s Prague speech – and the vision of a world without nuclear weapons – as a new hope for all who strive for a better future of humanity. According to the parliamentarians, this vision unlocked the door to a world free from the most destructive weapons humanity has ever seen – weapons that Obama in his Prague speech described as “the most dangerous legacy of the Cold War”.

“As parliamentarians from NATO countries we recognize the commitment of the United States, and the valuable role that the United States has played, in supporting the security of its allies. With the prospect of further proliferation of nuclear weapons, the risk of a nuclear weapon being used by non-state actors, and the emergence of new security challenges that require global cooperation, it is becoming clear that the nuclear status quo is no longer sustainable – and that the achievement of a nuclear-weapons-free world has become a new imperative. Therefore we welcome NATO’s commitment to ‘create the conditions for a nuclear-weapons-free world’ through the NATO Strategic Doctrine and we will work with our governments on paving the way by promoting mechanisms and approaches in NATO for achieving security without nuclear weapons,” the signatories affirm.

Parliamentarians then appeal to the US president to use the anniversary of his Prague speech to undertake further deep reductions in nuclear stockpiles and to continue work towards disarmament together with other P5 members.

“We declare our full support for your vision of nuclear-weapons-free world and we pledge to join you in this endeavor. Encouraged by your call to ‘ignore the voices who tell us that the world cannot change’, we join you in another Velvet Revolution – one that will rid the world of the last relics of the Cold War,” parliamentarians say in the letter.

The letter concludes with an expression of firm conviction that together with parliamentary colleagues around the world, with support of public opinion and with assistance of PNND, the vision put forward in Obama’s Prague Speech can be achieved. “Together, we can achieve this in our lifetimes.”