Mr Secretary-General, Director-General, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

It is an honour to join my colleague Anna Fotyga in welcoming you to this High Level Meeting. I am delighted that so many of you were able to attend. I am particularly grateful that the Secretary-General kicked off today’s meeting. I see his presence as evidence of the political importance of the Chemical Weapons Convention and of non-proliferation and disarmament in general. We feel confident, Mr Secretary-General, that with the recent appointment of Mr Duarte as High Representative, these topics will remain high on the international agenda. I am further encouraged in this belief by the sight of so many colleagues.

The reasons why Poland and the Netherlands organised this High Level Meeting are threefold:

- to celebrate

- to commemorate and

- to reiterate.

First and foremost, we are here to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the CWC’s entry into force.

Secondly, we are here to commemorate the victims of chemical weapons. Chemical weapons have been used in China, North Yemen and more recently in the Iran-Iraq war and against the civilian population in Iraq. Her Majesty, Queen Beatrix, recently unveiled a memorial to honour those victims’ memory at the offices of the OPCW in The Hague.

Thirdly, I would like to reiterate that the challenges facing us in the areas of security, non-proliferation and disarmament are great, but so is our shared will to meet those challenges.

The successes of the CWC and the OPCW have shown what we can accomplish.

After extensive negotiations, we crafted a treaty that bans a complete class of weapons and requires the declaration and complete destruction of all stockpiles. An independent, international body (the OPCW) verifies the destruction and performs random inspections, thereby building confidence among States Parties. Trust is good, but verification is better. The CWC scores high on both counts, and as such, it is a good example of effective multilateralism.

Treaty-based disarmament and non-proliferation are important principles for the Netherlands and the EU – non-negotiable principles. The CWC is an effective document. Let us aim for the same level of success within the broader multilateral non-proliferation and disarmament context.

I realise that we cannot ignore changing realities. Certain countries have opted out of the international system of treaties or fail to observe them for other reasons. Specific attention must also be paid to non-state actors, who do not believe they are under any obligation to comply with these agreements. These are the challenges before us.

I remain optimistic though. A pessimist, as Churchill once said, sees the difficulty in every opportunity. I prefer to see the opportunity in every difficulty. There is still enough scope for effective multilateral action in the area of non-proliferation and disarmament. The outcome of the first Preparatory Committee in preparation for the next NPT Review Conference in 2010 has shown that we can accomplish a great deal if the political will is there.

The Chemical Weapons Convention is one of the most inspiring examples of this. I encourage you all to think creatively about ways to meet the challenges we face in other multilateral agreements on non-proliferation and disarmament. Inclusiveness and shared goals are, in my view, key components that are essential for this.

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

Being an optimist, I am convinced that we all share a common goal, namely, ridding the world of all weapons of mass destruction.

Now let me leave it at that for the moment. Right now, I want to thank the Secretary-General for being here with us and for celebrating, commemorating en reiterating with us. I have understood that due to your extremely crowded agenda, you will have to leave the meeting at this point – our High-Level Meeting will be a lot less “high-level” after that. Thank you again and let me walk with you.