Greenpeace International – 2006-06-03 09:01:11

http://www.greenpeace.org/international/news/blix-to-us-nukes-out-of-nato010606

To:
The Defence Ministers of Germany, UK, Belgium, Netherlands and Turkey

I firmly believe that the 480 US-owned and controlled nuclear weapons that remain in Europe and Turkey are an unnecessary and dangerous legacy of the cold war that should be removed to the US and dismantled.

I’m therefore asking that you personally raise this issue of the role of US tactical nuclear weapons in Europe at the upcoming meeting of Defence Ministers.

These weapons are owned and controlled by the US. If you don’t have a say over how these weapons are used, it is a dangerous betrayal of your citizens to allow them to be present on your soil.

If they are used, for example in an attack on Iran, you and your citizens will bear responsibility for an act of war over which you had no authority. These US nuclear weapons are a clear and present danger and should be removed.

The time is right for change. As NATO reviews its purpose and objectives and speaks of ‘modernisation’, there is an opportunity for NATO members to take responsibility for the nuclear weapons on their soil and send them back to the US for dismantlement. NATO in the 21st century should be free of 20th century nuclear weapons and doctrines.

You can help achieve real peace by taking practical steps towards diplomacy and negotiations between states in the region on creating a Nuclear Weapons Free Zone.

Yours faithfully,

(Signature)