AUSTRIA, June 19 - In order to highlight the disastrous consequences of the deployment of nuclear arms and the associated risks, Austria once again held a conference, on 20 June 2022 in the Austria Center Vienna (ACV), on the humanitarian effects and risks of nuclear weapons. The event drew more than 600 representatives of governments, international organisations, leading researchers, survivors, affected persons and civil society. The attendees came together to discuss familiar as well as new scientific findings on the humanitarian impact and risks of nuclear weapons.

Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, and its nuclear threats in this connection, have made the fragility of nuclear deterrence starkly apparent. For Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg, this underlines the significance and urgency of the conference, which Austria is now holding for the second time since 2014:

Previously, the spectre of nuclear war seemed like an abstract danger to most people. But no longer – in recent weeks, we have experienced threats and extortion through nuclear weapons,

said Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg, who once again condemned Russia’s threats to use nuclear weapons as “absolutely irresponsible and completely unacceptable”.

He added that it was a “fundamental error” to believe that nuclear weapons provide protection, since deterrence is based solely on trust that these weapons will not be deployed. At the same time, however, nuclear states continue to increase and modernise their arsenals based on this assumption, while international agreements end and the disarmament system erodes.

The survival of humankind is too essential to entrust it to such assumptions. Security must be based on facts,

warned Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg, calling on the participants to take responsibility for the safety of future generations – the “status quo” was not an option.

The 2022 Vienna Conference on the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons was the second event held as part of Nuclear Ban Week Vienna, which was declared by ICAN (International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons). The first event was the ICAN Nuclear Ban Forum on 18^th and 19^th June, which brought together civil-society stakeholders from all over the world to discuss national, regional and global measures for the conclusive, worldwide elimination of nuclear weapons. The final event will be the first conference of the parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) from 21 to 23 June 2022, to be chaired by Austria as represented by Ambassador Alexander Kmentt.