Aid to destroy weapons

Date: 05/06/1997

By Mark Turner

THE EU has agreed to spend up to 15 million ecu to help Russia implement the United Nations Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).

Union governments have said that they will “offer assistance” from the Tacis programme once Moscow has ratified the deal.

Russia was widely criticised by the international community when it failed to ratify the convention by the time it entered into force on 29 April this year.

It is one of only two declared 'possessor states' of chemical weapons (the other being the US) and its failure to come on board was seen as a serious blow to the credibility of the convention.

But the EU recognises that the country, still struggling with transition to market economics, can ill afford the substantial costs of implementing the convention and needs help.

Union aid will be spent on converting and restructuring former chemical weapon factories in Russia from 1997-1999, and on destroying its existing stockpile of weapons.

Moscow has said that it intends to ratify the CWC by the end of the year.