President Obama in his letter on 15th January addressed to János Áder, President of Hungary expressed appreciation for the global leadership and important steps of Hungary in the area of nuclear security. The letter was transmitted to the Presidential Office through the Embassy of the United States in Budapest.
Among the task appreciated by President Obama is the successful leadership by Foreign Minister János Martonyi of the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) International Conference on Nuclear Security held in Vienna in July 2013, which elevated its contribution to global nuclear security.
President Obama underlined that work must be continued to ensure that the most dangerous nuclear materials are eliminated or secured and in this respect congratulated Hungary on the successful removal of all highly enriched uranium from Hungary back to Russia.
In the letter the US President also encourages Hungary’s continued support to make the global nuclear architecture as strong as possible and in this regard highlights that Hungary has already taken the significant steps towards this goal with the ratification of two legal instruments – the Amended Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material and Facilities and the International Convention on the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear terrorism.
The letter in the light of preparing for the upcoming third Nuclear Security Summit in The Hague in March 2014 also recalls the previous such gatherings in Washington in 2010 and Seoul in 2012 where many encouraging steps have been taken to improve the security of nuclear materials around the world and to strengthen individual and collective ability to prevent nuclear smuggling.
According to President Obama „we are reminded almost daily of the ongoing threat of terrorism and of the necessity to do all we can to avoid the global catastrophe of a terrorist nuclear attack”.
The Hague Summit should be used to identify new steps we can take together to strengthen nuclear security globally, writes President Obama in the letter sent to the Hungarian Head of State.
