11 December 2013 - OPCW Director-General Ahmet Üzümcü this morning met in Oslo with the Norwegian Prime Minister, Ms Erna Solberg, and with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Borge Brende. He updated them on the work of the OPCW-UN Joint Mission in Syria and discussed options for Norway’s involvement in efforts to eliminate the Syrian chemicals weapons programme.
“This challenging undertaking requires solid international cooperation and strong collective commitment in order to be conducted safely and as swiftly as possible. I am grateful to Norway for its strong support to the OPCW-UN Mission in Syria, through a voluntary contribution to the Trust Fund for Destruction and through an offer for maritime assistance”, stated Ambassador Üzümcü.
He noted that the detailed Plan for the destruction of Syrian chemicals out of Syria will be presented next week.
The Director-General also held officials meeting with Mr Olemic Thommessen, President of the Storting (Norwegian Parliament), and with Ms Anniken Huitfeld, Chair of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence, as well as with other members of the Committee.
In these meetings, the Director-General stressed that Norway’s sustained collaboration in furthering the goals of the Chemical Weapons Convention, including in supporting a stronger involvement of NGOs, demonstrated a “remarkable awareness of the significance of the Convention and of the necessity to broaden its scope and its reach”.
“I am looking forward to the continued cooperation with the Norwegian authorities” concluded Ahmet Üzümcü.
The Director-General received yesterday the Nobel Peace Prize 2013 on behalf of the OPCW.