Vienna Hosts the First Meeting of the States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons
From June 21-23, the first meeting of the States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) will be held at the Austria Center Vienna. At the first meeting of the States Parties, the States Parties will review the implementation of the Treaty and measure progress toward its goals.
It is the first meeting of TPNW since its foundation. / Picture: © Wikimedia Commons / Herbert Ortner, Vienna, Austria [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)]
The first meeting of the States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) will take place in Vienna at the end of June. The event, which will take place at the Austria Center Vienna, will be the first meeting of the TPNW since its entry into force on January 22, 2021. The president-elect of the meeting is Ambassador Alexander Kmentt (Austria).
The TPNW acted as a milestone in the history of nuclear disarmament at the time, as it was the first multilateral nuclear disarmament treaty in more than two decades. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres called the treaty "an important step toward the goal of a nuclear-weapon-free world and a strong demonstration of support for multilateral approaches to nuclear disarmament."
Among other things, the TPNW describes a comprehensive ban on participation in all activities involving nuclear weapons. This includes, among other things, a commitment not to develop, test, produce, acquire, stockpile, or use nuclear weapons.
In addition, the threat to use them is understandably prohibited, which is particularly relevant with respect to the Russian Federation's invasion of Ukraine. The treaty also prohibits the deployment of nuclear weapons on national territory and assistance to states in carrying out prohibited activities.
States Parties to the TPNW undertake to assist persons under their jurisdiction affected by the use or testing of nuclear weapons and to undertake environmental remediation activities in areas under their jurisdiction or control contaminated as a result of nuclear weapons testing or deployment.
At the first meeting of the States Parties, States Parties will review implementation of the treaty and measure progress toward its goals.
The inaugural meeting will begin at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, June 21, and will be held in Room "D" of the Austria Center Vienna. Access to the venue is through Gate One of the Vienna International Center.