Executive Secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization Robert Floyd visits Finland

On Thursday 16 June, Executive Secretary Floyd will visit the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, where he will hold discussions with Minister for Foreign Affairs Haavisto. They will discuss the cooperation between Finland and the CTBTO as well as topical issues related to nuclear arms control. During the visit, Floyd will also meet, among others, the management of the University of Helsinki and the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority and pay a visit to the Primary Seismic Station (Station PS17) at Sysmä. Station PS17 is part of the International Monitoring System (IMS) of the CTBTO.

The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) was opened for signature in 1996. The treaty is not yet in force because, according to the treaty negotiations, certain key countries must sign and ratify it before it can enter into force and their signature and ratification is still missing. The Secretariat of the Preparatory Commission for the CTBTO is headquartered in Vienna. It manages the International Monitoring System, which consists of 321 monitoring stations and several laboratories around the world to monitor compliance with the ban on nuclear tests.

Finland ratified the CTBT in 1999. It supports its entry into force actively and hosts two IMS stations. Finland belongs to the Friends of the CTBT together with the Netherlands, Australia, Japan, Canada and Germany.

On Thursday 16 June at 8.30–10.30, an open seminar will be organised on the Kumpula campus of the University of Helsinki to present the activities of the CTBTO. 

Inquiries:

Johanna Salovaara-Dean, Counsellor, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, tel. +358 50 566 7235.

The email addresses of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs are in the format firstname.lastname@formin.fi