Latest developments
Norway voted against the UN General Assembly resolutions on the TPNW in 2018, 2019, and 2020. The Norwegian Foreign Minister, Ine Søreide, confirmed in Parliament in November 2018 that 'there is no legal obligation barring Norway from signing or ratifying the TPNW, but strong political commitments amounting from the Atlantic Treaty and the strategic documents we have adopted.' Two former Norwegian prime ministers (Kjell Magne Bondevik, Thorbjørn Jagland), two former foreign ministers (Bjørn Tore Godal, Knut Vollebæk), and two former defence ministers (Eldbjørg Løwer, Anne-Grete Strøm Erichsen) were among the signatories to an open letter in September 2020 calling on current leaders in umbrella states to 'show courage and boldness' and join the TPNW. Norway’s capital Oslo and 39 other Norwegian cities have endorsed ICAN's Cities Appeal. See: bit.ly/2IYHBnG, bit.ly/2TwCaOp.
Recommendations
- Norway should ensure that nuclear weapons do not have a role in its national defence plans and security policies. It should renounce the retention and potential use of nuclear weapons on its behalf, for instance through a declaratory statement, and refrain from endorsing future alliance statements in support of weapons of mass destruction.
- Norway should urgently sign and ratify the TPNW, and encourage other states to adhere to the Treaty. Until it is in a position to do so, it should welcome the TPNW as a valuable contribution to the global disarmament and non-proliferation architecture, attend its meetings of states parties as an observer, and work with its states parties on practical steps towards disarmament.
