13-14 Nov 2008
Mr. Silberberg, State Secretary of the Federal Foreign Office of Germany
More than 150 senior officials representing 53 countries from five continents, as well as a number of international organizations and academic institutions, met in Berlin, Germany, and began two-day discussions on the challenges of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD).
The seminar, hosted by the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gathers participants from NATO and Partner countries, countries from the Alliance's Mediterranean Dialogue and Istanbul Cooperation Initiative, the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Asia-Pacific region.
NATO Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs and Security Policy
The Director-General of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, the former Chairman of the United Nations Security Council 1540 Committee, which deals with non-proliferation issues, and high officials from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and from the Office of the Personal Representative on non-proliferation of WMD in the Council of the European Union are among the 31 speakers.
It is expected that presentations, followed by panel discussions, will allow an in-depth debate on the seminar’s four general themes: the future of multilateral non-proliferation regimes, the new initiatives for the prevention of proliferation, the regional proliferation threats and terrorism and WMD proliferation.
The presentations cover all types and aspects of WMD, including the 2010 Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference, the implementation of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1540, export controls, as well as regional initiatives and national contributions to the non-proliferation efforts of the international community.
This is the fourth NATO seminar on the challenges of WMD proliferation to be organized under the auspices of NATO’s Senior Politico-Military Group on Proliferation.
The previous seminars were hosted by the NATO Defence College in Rome in 2004, by the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Sofia in 2005, and by the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Vilnius in 2007.
