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Skriven 2005-06-20 23:51:40 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0506201) for Mon, 2005 Jun 20
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U.S.-EU Declaration on Enhancing Cooperation in the Field of Non
Proliferation and the Fight Against Terrorism
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For Immediate Release
June 20, 2005

U.S.-EU Declaration on Enhancing Cooperation in the Field of Non
Proliferation and the Fight Against Terrorism



Promoting international peace and security is of vital importance to the
United States and the European Union. People all over the world should have
freedom from fear and want and live in dignity. Societies have become more
interconnected and more interdependent. And as the events of September 11,
2001 and March 11, 2004 show, the United States and the European Union have
also become more vulnerable to threats which are more diverse, less
visible, and less predictable.

Fighting terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction,
coupled with the risk that such weapons could be acquired by terrorists,
remain our greatest security challenges. In this context, we recall the
2004 Dromoland Castle Declarations on Combating Terrorism and on the
Non-Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction, which still provide the
framework for our cooperation. We are fully committed to strengthen and
support the important role of the United Nations in assisting member states
in combating both challenges.

We reaffirm our commitment to cooperate in our efforts to combat global
terrorism in full respect of human rights, fundamental freedoms and the
rule of law, and to address the underlying conditions that terrorists can
seize to recruit and exploit to their advantage. We pledge to intensify our
efforts to strengthen international cooperation to encourage the global and
effective implementation of UN conventions and protocols on terrorism. We
also work together with a view to adopting the Comprehensive Convention
Against Terrorism. We broadly support the principles of the comprehensive
counter-terrorism strategy as proposed by UNSG Annan at the Madrid
Conference in March 2005.

Our bilateral cooperation extends to developing comprehensive and efficient
border security processes, more secure travel documents, contacts between
our law enforcement agencies and improved information-sharing abilities. We
will reinforce and expand our cooperation in the fight against terrorist
financing. We will continue to strengthen the abilities of our legal
systems to prosecute terrorists and will enhance our judicial cooperation
in criminal matters. We will also continue our work to enhance the
capacities of other countries to combat terrorism.

We will further strengthen measures against the proliferation of weapons of
mass destruction by state and non-state actors. In this context, we
reaffirm our support for the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty and will
continue to work together to strengthen it. We pledge to intensify our
collaboration and coordination in promoting strict implementation of and
compliance with relevant treaties, agreements and commitments on non
proliferation. We will enhance the security of weapons-usable materials,
facilities, and technology. We reaffirm also our willingness to work
together to strengthen and universalise the disarmament and
non-proliferation treaties and regimes that ban the proliferation of
weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems.

We will assist other states around the world to build stronger legal,
regulatory, enforcement and other institutional capacity against
proliferation. And we will work for more effective responses to address
proliferation threats and prevent or remedy non-compliance. Our shared
commitment to address proliferation threats is reflected in the "US-EU
Joint Programme of Work on the Non-proliferation of Weapons of Mass
Destruction.

We remain united in our determination to see the proliferation implications
of Iran's advanced nuclear program resolved. Towards that end, we reconfirm
our full support for the ongoing European efforts to secure Iran's
agreement to provide objective guarantees that its nuclear program is
intended for exclusively peaceful purposes. As those discussions proceed,
we urge Iran to abide fully by the terms of the November 2004 Paris
Agreement and by the November 2004 IAEA Board of Governors resolution,
including the need to suspend fully and verifiably all enrichment-related
and reprocessing activities. We reiterate the need for Iran to cooperate
fully with IAEA requests for information and access, to comply fully with
all IAEA Board requirements and resolve all outstanding issues related to
its nuclear programme. Finally we call on Iran to ratify without delay the
Additional Protocol and, pending its ratification, to act in accordance
with its provisions.

We note with deep concern the DPRK's nuclear weapons program and its 10
February statement that it has manufactured nuclear weapons. The DPRK has
clearly violated its commitments under the NPT and its IAEA safeguards
agreement and other international non-proliferation agreements. The DPRK
must comply fully with its non-proliferation obligations, and dismantle its
nuclear weapons and nuclear weapons programs in a permanent, transparent,
thorough, and verifiable manner. We stress that the Korean Peninsula should
be free from nuclear weapons, the security and stability on the Peninsula
be maintained and the nuclear issue be peacefully resolved through dialogue
and negotiations. We fully reaffirm our support for the Six-Party Talks and
believe this represents an important opportunity to achieve a comprehensive
solution to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

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