In advance of the Vienna Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons on December 8-9, 129 statesmen and women from 45 countries, coordinated through the Nuclear Threat Initiative’s Global Networks Forum, have signed a letter supporting the initiative and setting out an ambitious agenda for its further development. 7 former Prime Ministers, 6 former UN Under Secretaries-General, a former NATO Secretary-General and 37 former Foreign or Defence Ministers are among those who have added their names.

The signatories see an opportunity for all states, whether they possess nuclear weapons or not, to work together in a joint enterprise to identify, understand, prevent, manage and eliminate the risks associated with these indiscriminate and inhumane weapons.

The letter is a joint initiative between the ELN and its sister organisations, the Nuclear Threat Initiative, the Nuclear Security Leadership Council, the Asia-Pacific Leadership Network and the Latin American Leadership Network.

To read the full statement, and see a list of all signatories, please download the group statement.

The opinions articulated above represent the views of the signatories, and do not necessarily reflect the position of the European Leadership Network or any of its other members. The ELN’s aim is to encourage debates that will help develop Europe’s capacity to address the pressing foreign, defence, and security challenges of our time.