UNGA 78, First Committee
Statement of the Republic of Estonia delivered by Estonian Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Rein Tammsaar
New York, 10 October 2023
Thank you, Mr. Chair,
Allow me to congratulate you on assuming the Chairmanship of the 78th Session of the First Committee. I assure you of my delegation’s full support and cooperation. Estonia aligns itself with the statement of the European Union. In addition, I would like to make some remarks in my national capacity.
The First Committee takes place at a time when the Russian Federation, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, continues its unprovoked and unjustified war of aggression against Ukraine. Estonia condemns Russia’s war against Ukraine in the strongest possible terms.
Russia has blatantly violated its commitments under the 1994 Budapest Memorandum to refrain from use of force against Ukraine´s territorial integrity or sovereignty. Russia continues to violate its obligations under the Helsinki Final Act, the UN Charter and the Statute of International Atomic Energy Agency. Russia must immediately and unconditionally withdraw all its troops and military equipment from the entire territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders. The voluntary involvement of Belarus and Iran in Russia’s aggression against Ukraine should be condemned in strongest possible terms.
Russian forces have occupied the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant and turned it into a military base, where officials are being forcefully detained and their human rights violated. This has a direct negative effect on the nuclear security and safety in Ukraine and it severely undermines European and global security and stability. Russia must immediately withdraw from the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant, so that the Ukrainian authorities can resume their sovereign responsibilities without outside pressure and interference.
A decision by Russia to place nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus is an escalatory measure that further demonstrates Russia´s complete disregard for international security and stability. The threat to use nuclear force and Russia’s announcement of its readiness to conduct nuclear tests undermine the global nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime. Russia´s nuclear blackmail is irresponsible, and totally unacceptable for a P5 nuclear weapons state.
Russia’s continued deliberate attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure are war crimes. Yesterday’s missile strike against a café in Hroza, killed more than 50 people and is a barbaric attempt by Russia to subjugate the will of Ukrainian people defending their country. With winter around the corner, there are signs that Russia is once again ramping up its shelling of Ukrainian civilian infrastructure, including grain facilities and energy infrastructure. These war crimes are often committed through the use of drones, provided by Iran. I want to repeat once again that a United Nations investigation and a report on this issue to the UN Security Council is highly needed.
The Treaty of the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons remains the cornerstone of the global regime for nuclear disarmament, non-proliferation and peaceful uses of nuclear energy. Estonia deeply regrets that due to Russia´s opposition, the 10th Review Conference of the NPT could not achieve consensus on an outcome document and the First Session of the Preparatory Committee could not adopt a consensual report. Estonia shares the ultimate goal of a world without nuclear weapons and continues to advocate for the Progressive Approach, pursued in a realistic and responsible way.
Taking into account the rapid and extensive build-up of China’s nuclear arsenal, Estonia calls on China to join future arms control agreements and to immediately take measures to improve transparency on its nuclear weapons and doctrine, to refrain from further build-up, and to pursue risk reduction measures.
Estonia supports all international efforts towards the entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty and urges all States, particularly the Annex II States, to sign and ratify the Treaty without further delay. Latest reports of Russia possibly revoking its’ ratification of CTBT are alarming. It would be an irresponsible step undermining our collective efforts. We also support starting negotiations on Fissile-Material Cut-Off Treaty and call on the nuclear weapon States to declare or maintain moratoria on the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons and other nuclear explosive devices.
Iran’s continued actions, inconsistent with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action have severe and irreversible proliferation implications. We urge Iran to reverse its alarming nuclear trajectory, return to its commitments in the field of nuclear non-proliferation, and resume the implementation of all JCPOA-related monitoring and verification measures. Iran must immediately start effectively engaging with the International Atomic Energy Agency to resolve all pending safeguards issues in accordance with its legally binding obligations under its NPT Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement.
The DPRK’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs continue to threaten international and regional peace and security and are a matter of grave concern. Estonia strongly condemns the DPRK’s continued development of its nuclear and ballistic missile programs and calls upon the DPRK to refrain from conducting another nuclear test. We urge the DPRK to comply with UN Security Council resolutions and abandon all its nuclear weapons, other weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner.
The 9th Review Conference of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention and the 5th Review Conference of the Chemical Weapons Convention served to uphold the comprehensive legal prohibitions of these categories of weapons of mass destruction, and ensure there can be no impunity for those who use them. The use of these weapons anywhere, at any time, by anyone, under any circumstances is not acceptable and poses a threat to international peace and security.
The growing frequency of sophisticated malicious cyber incidents show how cyberspace is increasingly being used to challenge our security. We have seen how Russia uses cyber tools to advance its illegal and unprovoked military aggression against Ukraine. Recent large-scale cyber-attacks have targeted the Western Balkan’s countries and last year Costa Rica was hit critically by ransomware attacks. In this context, promoting an open, free and secure cyberspace, where existing international law, including human rights law and international humanitarian law fully applies, remains our priority. We find negotiating a new treaty on state behaviour in cyberspace to be premature and resource heavy. Instead, our focus should turn more strongly to the practical implementation of the agreed framework of responsible State behaviour. This is why Estonia supports the establishment of an inclusive and action-oriented Programme of Action. We view the Programme of Action as a single permanent structure for elaborating further on the framework of responsible state behaviour after the end of the current Open Ended Working Group in 2025.
To conclude, Estonia is determined to contribute to the global efforts to strengthen the international law and multilateralism with the UN at its core, including through implementation of existing disarmament, arms control and non-proliferation instruments.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
