In a special United Nations session held last week regarding a global ban on nuclear weapons, Iceland abstained from voting on the measure. Guðlaugur Þór Þórðarson, Minister of Foreign Affairs, told RÚV that he thought the ban was “unrealistic”. A total of 122 countries voted in favour of the ban, however, a number of NATO countries did not. The United States, for instance, protested the measure vehemently.
“We have always been in support of a nuclear weapons-free world and we want the dismantling of nuclear armaments to take place mutually but it’s obvious that if the nuclear powers don’t take part in this measure, it’s not realistic” Guðlaugur Þór remarked. He added that much has been achieved in matters of nuclear disarmament, citing a 95% decrease in nuclear weapons since the Cold War era. “In this matter, we take the same position as the nations we like to compare ourselves to,” Guðlaugur Þór continued. Asked if he will engage himself in furthering a disarmament agenda within NATO, he responded positively, while emphasizing that disarmament must be mutual. “So that NATO countries and others won’t be left with some nations, such as North Korea, being the only one with nuclear weapons.”
