NATO will hold its 12th annual Conference on Weapons of Mass Destruction Arms Control, Disarmament, and Nonproliferation next week in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The conference, to be held May 9-10, will involve “open and informal dialogue, addressing arms control and disarmament issues,” according to a NATO statement issued Friday. Ambassador Sorin Ducaru, the institution’s assistant secretary general for emerging security challenges, will chair the forum.
A State Department spokesperson said by email that the U.S. delegation plans to engage fellow participants at the conference “on the key challenges and opportunities for WMD arms control, disarmament, and nonproliferation,” and to “discuss NATO’s role in addressing these issues.”
The 2015 conference, held in Doha, Qatar, brought together participants from approximately 50 nations and featured speakers such as NATO Deputy Secretary General Alexander Vershbow and then-United Nations High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Angela Kane. According to the organization, its 2015 conference was held in preparation for the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Review Conference held later that year, and included discussions on terrorism, as well as chemical and biological weapons risks. The conference was held in Switzerland in 2014, Croatia in 2013, and Hungary in 2012.
