A flotilla of around 30 boats sailing alongside the Greenpeace ship MY Arctic Sunrise. The protest denounces the French move to increase their nuclear arsenal at Ile Longue despite their commitment to disarm under the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty (NPT.
"French moves to increase their nuclear arsenal at Ile Longue
flies in the face
of their commitment to disarm under the Nuclear Proliferation
Treaty (NPT),"
said Greenpeace International's Disarmament specialist William
Peden, who is
currently attending the NPT Review conference in New York.
"The majority of States present at the current Review Conference
have once again pleaded for the nuclear weapon states to meet their
commitments on disarmament and non-proliferation.(1)
"France is violating its commitment to the NPT. Greenpeace calls
on the French
government to stop the development and production of new M-51
missiles and to wind down the 288 nuclear warheads at its military
base at Ile Longue.
"At a time of growing global insecurity it is of deep concern
that a nuclear
base of this kind, with a total destructive power 2000 times
more powerful than
that used in Hiroshima is in fact increasing rather than
decreasing its capability," Peden said.
France currently assigns some three billion euros per annum to
its military
nuclear complex. Its moves to develop new atomic weapons, along
with steps by
other nuclear weapon states including the US, which is
upgrading its Nevada
nuclear test site in preparation for a resumption of nuclear
testing, is
driving a new global arms race that ultimately is placing great
strains on the
survival of the NPT.
"North Korea is on the way to becoming a nuclear power and more
than forty other countries have the capacity to follow their
example within a few months," said Yannick Jadot, Greenpeace France
Campaign Director, on board the Arctic Sunrise at Ile Longue.
"Greenpeace calls on France to publicly confirm its 35 year-old
NPT obligation
to achieve unambiguous and complete abolition of their nuclear
arsenals and to
immediately halt any further development of new nuclear weapons.
France must
also call for an immediate adoption of a moratorium on the
production,
transport and the use of nuclear materials if a world free of
nuclear weapons
is to be achieved," Jadot concluded.
Other contacts: William Peden, Greenpeace International Disarmament specialist + 1 6462 474 017Pascal Husting, Greenpeace France Executive Director + 33 673 892 319Nicky Davies, Greenpeace International, Disarmament Campaigner +31 646 197 330
VVPR info: William Peden, Greenpeace International Disarmament specialist + 1 6462 474 017Michael Kessler, Greenpeace International Media Officer +34 660 637 053Pascal Husting, Greenpeace France Executive Director + 33 673 892 319Nicky Davies, Greenpeace International, Disarmament Campaigner +31 646 197 330
Notes: (1) Article VI of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty stipulates: " Each of the Parties to the Treaty undertakes to pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an earlydate and to nuclear disarmament, and on a Treaty on general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control.”Greenpeace is an independent campaigning organisation that uses non-violent creative confrontation to expose global environmental problems to force solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future.