Sweden ‘not signing’ UN nuclear treaty – FM

Sweden will not sign a UN treaty calling for the ban of nuclear weapons, Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom said in Stockholm on Friday. “The government will, as it stands now, not sign the convention on a prohibition of nuclear arms,” Wallstrom told reporters.

The UN treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) calls for the ban of “nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices.” It was adopted by the UN General Assembly in July of 2017 with the approval of 122 countries, including that of Sweden.

While Stockholm had voted in favor, it also expressed concern about the lack of a clear definition in the treaty of which weapons would be covered, and how it would relate to other treaties, such as the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), Wallstrom said.

Sweden will seek observer status, AFP quoted Wallstrom as saying. The minister added that her country remained committed to a world free of nuclear arms.