OPCW Director-General visits Paris to commemorate organization’s 20th anniversary

France’s Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian recently welcomed Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Director-General Ahmet Üzümcü for a symposium in Paris commemorating the organization’s 20th anniversary.

In his opening remarks, Üzümcü expressed his gratitude for France’s commitments to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) and to the OPCW over the past two decades.

Speaking on the successes of the CWC, Üzümcü described the treaty as a “unique accord that became a cornerstone of the global disarmament and non-proliferation regime” because of its multilateral instruments that assist in banning an entire class of weapons of mass destruction.

With the disarmament phase of the treaty almost complete, the Director-General stressed that the CWC could not stand still and must keep pace with technology developments and the evolving threat environment.

“Flexibility, planning, and cooperation will be crucial factors in this respect,” Üzümcü said.

Üzümcü then briefed Le Drian on the OPCW’s ongoing activities in the Syrian Arab Republic, where it is currently conducting an investigation into the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime, as well as the threat of chemical weapons use by worldwide terrorist groups.

Since the CWC’s entry into force in 1997, the convention represents the most-successful disarmament treaty eliminating an entire class of weapons of mass destruction. More than 96 percent of chemical weapons stockpiles declared by the convention’s 192 signatories have been destroyed under OPCW verification protocols.