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Honduras became the 50th country to ratify the convention. UN Secretary General António Guterres says it “represents a significant commitment to the total elimination of nuclear weapons, which remains the highest level of disarmament in the UN.”
The agreement prohibits, among other things, the use, manufacture, testing, shipment, and threats of use of nuclear weapons. The United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and other nuclear nations have not signed the treaty, but activists hope nonetheless that it has more than a symbolic meaning and that it will eventually have a phase-out effect.
“A victory for humanity and the promise of a more secure future,” said Peter Maurer, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Many countries wrote during the August convention, which celebrated the 75th anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, including Nigeria, Malaysia, Ireland and Malta.
Sweden, like other Nordic countries, has chosen not to sign the convention and has instead opened up to participate as an observer. An impact assessment by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from January last year establishes, among other things, that the agreement may conflict with the UN Treaty on the Prevention of the Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), to which Sweden is acceded in 1970. The agreement is also considered to damage international defense day.
The decision not to write Under the UN agreement he has been criticized, among others, by Swedish anti-nuclear-weapons doctors, who believe it gives the wrong signal to the outside world. The Green Party was also in favor of Sweden signing the convention, but had to back down as there was no support for the issue in the Riksdag and when the Armed Forces also took a position.
The convention was adopted by the UN General Assembly in July 2017 after 122 countries said yes. 84 states have since signed it, but not all have ratified it.
