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| Round table: NATO’s nuclear policy and non-proliferation of WMD
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 On 11 April 2006 the Center for the Study of Democracy held a round table on NATO’s nuclear policy and non-proliferation of WMD. The aim of the event was to provide more information and clarity regarding NATO’s weapons of mass destruction (WMD) policy. The main speaker was Mr. Guy Roberts, Deputy Assistant Secretary General for WMD Policy and Director of the Nuclear Policy Directorate. Participants in the round table were members of the Bulgarian Parliament, staff officers and representatives of the media.
In its introduction, Mr. Roberts underlined that the relations within NATO are based on common commitment and mutual cooperation and that all decisions are taken after consultations and in depth discussions and only with the definite agreement of all the member states. He explained that in the consultative process regarding nuclear policy of the Alliance participate 24 of the NATO member states excluding France, which decided to have its own consultative body. Mr. Roberts was explicit that the US has no intentions whatsoever to move some of its nuclear weapons to other locations in Europe and once again confirmed that no actions could be undertaken without the agreement of the rest of the member states. However, nuclear weapons remain extremely important for peace-keeping and consequently they will continue to be amongst NATO’s priorities. NATO’s strategy includes maintaining a mix of conventional and nuclear forces at minimum sufficient level and further destruction of the surplus nuclear weapons.
To the question what role did Bulgaria play in the new nuclear policy Mr. Roberts replied that it was expected to participate actively in the consultative process and that all permanent representatives participated in seminars and conferences on that topic. All countries, including those, which do not posses nuclear weapons, participate in the burden sharing.
 The discussion touched on the topic of the contract between Bulgaria and the US about the common use of military equipment on the territory of Bulgaria. A participant in the round table asked whether there was possibility of keeping nuclear weapons in those bases and whether attacks to other countries without the agreement of the Bulgarian government could occur. Mr. Roberts assured the participants that the US has no intention of storing nuclear weapons here and that the whole process of transporting and storing would be extremely complicated and expensive. In relation to this he pointed out that currently in NATO the only potential carriers of nuclear weapons were the so-called “dual use” airplanes. They require very sophisticated and expensive infrastructure as well as specially trained staff in order to be based at a certain air force base or even to be allowed to land on it. He then added that 15 of the member states had refused to possess or accept this type of planes of their territory. As far as the “American bases” were concerned, according to him this was a new way of cooperation offering good opportunity for mutual support and training. Mr. Asen Agov, a member of the Democrats for Strong Bulgaria political party in Bulgaria, added that at the moment two parallel worlds exist as far as military decision taking is concerned – one of them is the informed society and the other is the ill-informed society, which tends to be skeptical. Therefore, Mr. Roberts encouraged rigorous public debate on the topic.
The round table ended with a discussion about the risks of terrorist groups getting hold of nuclear weapon. Mr. Roberts explained that certainly terrorism is a major part of NATO’s operational consideration and their three priorities are: non-proliferation of WMD, counter-proliferation and consequence management in case of an attack.
Presentation by Mr. Guy Roberts (MS Power Point, 2.2 MB)
Media coverage (in Bulgarian) | |
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CSD.bg |
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