Czechia
Czechia boycotted the TPNW negotiations in 2017 and has consistently voted against the annual UN General Assembly resolutions on the Treaty, including in 2023. Czechia may sign and ratify or accede the TPNW, but will have to make changes to its policies and practices to become compliant.
TPNW Status
| TPNW Article 1(1) prohibitions: Compatibility in 2023 | ||
|---|---|---|
| (a) | Develop, produce, manufacture, acquire | Compatible |
| Test | Compatible | |
| Possess or stockpile | Compatible | |
| (b) | Transfer | Compatible |
| (c) | Receive transfer or control | Compatible |
| (d) | Use | Compatible |
| Threaten to use | Compatible | |
| (e) | Assist, encourage or induce | Non-compatible |
| (f) | Seek or receive assistance | Compatible |
| (g) | Allow stationing, installation, deployment | Compatible |
| TPNW voting and participation | |
|---|---|
| UNGA resolution on TPNW (latest vote) | Voted no (2023) |
| Participated in 2MSP (2023) | No |
| 1MSP delegation size (% women) | N/A |
| Adoption of TPNW (7 July 2017) | N/A |
| Participated in TPNW negotiations (2017) | No |
| Negotiation mandate (A/RES/71/258) | Voted no |
| Other weapons of mass destruction (WMD) treaties | |
|---|---|
| Party to an NWFZ | No |
| Party to the NPT | Yes (Acceded 1993) |
| Ratified the CTBT | Yes (Ratified 1997) |
| Party to the BWC | Yes (Acceded 1993) |
| Party to the CWC | Yes (Ratified 1996) |
| IAEA safeguards and fissile material | |
|---|---|
| Safeguards agreement | Yes (1 Oct 2009) |
| TPNW Art 3(2) deadline | N/A |
| Small Quantities Protocol | No |
| Additional Protocol | Yes |
| Enrichment facilities/reprocessing plants | No |
| HEU stocks | Cleared |
| Plutonium stocks | No |
Latest developments
During the high-level segment of the UN General Assembly in September 2023, the President of Czechia, Petr Pavel, said: ‘Russia’s reckless threats to use nuclear weapons, its policy of coercion and intimidation, represent a threat to balance and integrity of the whole system of non-proliferation. The announced stationing of nuclear weapons in Belarus is a further irresponsible escalation Czechia condemns in the strongest terms.’ He also criticised North Korea and Iran for ‘reckless escalation of nuclear or intercontinental ballistic missile activities’.1
In the First Committee of the UN General Assembly in October 2023, Czechia said: ‘With regard to the [TPNW], evoked by many, we continue to believe that the NPT can and must be the vehicle for comprehensive nuclear disarmament.’ It added that the ‘slow progress’ towards disarmament is the result of ‘the overall precarious security environment’ and ‘corresponding lack of political will’, which cannot, in its view, ‘be remedied by creation and adherence to alternative international instruments’.2
Recommendations
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Czechia should renounce the possession and potential use of nuclear weapons on its behalf, and ensure that nuclear weapons do not have a role in its defence posture.
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Czechia should comply with its existing obligation under Article VI of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and pursue negotiations in good faith on nuclear disarmament.
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Czechia should urgently adhere to the TPNW. Until it is in a position to do so, it should welcome the TPNW as a valuable component in the global disarmament and non-proliferation architecture, work with the Treaty's states parties on practical steps towards disarmament, and attend the meetings of states parties as an observer.