Nuclear security

As long as nuclear-armed states exist, NATO must also have nukes – Norway FM

Norway does not support the UN Nuclear Weapon Ban Treaty, Foreign Minister Børge Brende said Saturday as he spoke on the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize awarded to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) in Oslo earlier.

“Prime Minister [Erna Solberg] and I have congratulated ICAN, but we cannot support a UN ban on nuclear weapons when none of the nuclear weapons countries are involved,” Brende told local TV 2 channel, as cited by Norwegian media. 

ICAN was officially launched in 2007 with the aim of promoting the ideals outlined in the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The treaty was signed by over 50 countries in September 2017. The US, UK, France, China, Israel, and Russia were among the nuclear-armed states that did not sign.

“If Norway, as a NATO member, voted for a ban, it would mean that Norway had to say that NATO had to abolish its nuclear strategy while looking at other countries having nuclear weapons. As long as other countries have nuclear weapons, NATO must have it,” Brende said.