EU at 80 years of Hiroshima: “A nuclear war cannot be won”

Brussels.- The European Union recalled this Wednesday that nuclear wars “cannot be won” and “must never be fought” on the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, while warning that an “irresponsible nuclear rhetoric” is growing in the global landscape.

That rhetoric, along with opaque arsenals and the emergence of new actors seeking nuclear capabilities, “endanger international peace and security and flagrantly undermine the fundamental truth that we have all affirmed: a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought,” said in a statement the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas. Also, the President of the European Council, António Costa, urged that the world “not forget the horrors caused by nuclear weapons” and warned that humanity “still carries those scars” today.

“Today, we honor the memory of the victims and reaffirm our unwavering commitment to peace, disarmament, and a world free of nuclear weapons,” he added.

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For Kallas, the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons “remains the cornerstone of the global nuclear non-proliferation regime and the essential basis for achieving nuclear disarmament”, therefore he emphasized the need to resume strategic dialogue on this matter and to take concrete measures to continue reducing arsenals. “We have a shared duty to pass on to future generations the memory of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We owe it to the victims: to ensure that this legacy serves as a basis for peace. Disarmament and non-proliferation are not optional, but a collective responsibility,” urged Kallas.