July 18, 2023

The Japan Council against A and H Bombs (Japan Gensuikyo) on July 17 issued a statement by its Secretary General, Yasui Masakazu, criticizing a communique adopted at the NATO Vilnius Summit for justifying their permanent possession of nuclear weapons.

The Vilnius Summit communique states that "[n]uclear weapons are unique" and the "strategic nuclear forces" of the NATO alliance are "the supreme guarantee of the security" of the alliance, and that "[a]s long as nuclear weapons exist, NATO will remain a nuclear alliance." Yasui's statement denounces these parts as a declaration of their permanent possession of nuclear weapons.

The statement points out that amid growing international tensions, the world's governments should work to have nuclear-weapon states fulfill their obligations to negotiate nuclear disarmament in line with Article 6 of the NPT and should also work to sincerely implement the agreements reached at NTP Review Conferences.

The statement criticizes the Vilnius "declaration" for openly being hostile toward the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), demanding that NATO member countries break away from the logic of nuclear deterrence and join the TPNW.

Regarding the Japanese government, the statement demands that Japan advance peace diplomacy based on the war-renouncing Article 9 of the Constitution and ratify the TPNW.