The European Union and the United States met on
11 December 2015 in Brussels for their annual High level Dialogue on
Non-Proliferation, Disarmament and Arms Control. The US Delegation was led by
Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Non-proliferation,
Thomas Countryman and by Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Arms
Control, Verification and Compliance, Anita Friedt. The meeting was chaired by
EEAS Principal Adviser and Special Envoy for Non-Proliferation and Disarmament,
Jacek Bylica, and it included senior officials from 28 EU Member States.
The EU and the US had extensive discussions on
current priorities on the global non-proliferation and disarmament agenda
following the 2015 NPT Review Conference and the recent UNGA First Committee.
Topics discussed also included support for the OPCW-UN Joint Investigative
Mechanism related to chemical weapons in Syria, the 2016 Nuclear Security
Summit, next year's Review Conference of the Biological Weapons Convention, as
well as possible biological and chemical threats from non-state actors.
In his opening remarks Special Envoy Bylica
declared: "This year brought yet another important proof that the United
States remains the EU's key partner in successfully dealing with global
proliferation challenges through diplomatic means".
Assistant Secretary of State Countryman said
that "the EU-US partnership is essential to preserving the achievements of
the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and to creating the conditions for further
progress in disarmament".
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