BRUSSELS, April 26 (KUNA) -- The European Union stressed Wednesday its "strong support " to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) and to the important role of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to eradicate weapons of mass destruction.
EU High Representative Federica Mogherini in a statement to mark the twentieth anniversary of the entry into force of the CWC and founding of OPCW, lamented that more than one hundred years after the first massive use of them, chemical weapons are still used against people who can have no escape from them.
"What happened in the town of Khan Sheikhoun (in Syria) on 4 April 2017, with its horrific consequences, causing the death and injuries of scores of civilians including children and relief workers, reminds us once again of the importance of the full observance of the CWC and the important role of the OPCW," she said.
She expressed the EU's strong condemnation of the use of chemical weapons anywhere, at any time, by anyone, under any circumstances. "We are fully committed to countering the re-emergence of chemical weapons and the evolving threat of chemical weapons falling into the hands of terrorist groups or other non-state actors, to eradicating non-state actors' possession of such weapons, and to ensuring full accountability for any State or non-state actor which use them," added Mogherini "This is also an occasion to call on all States not yet party to the Convention to ratify or accede to it without delay and unconditionally. The world should have already got rid of such horrifying means," stated the EU Foreign Policy chief. (end) nk.gta