WCC appeals for nuclear disarmament

(March, 23, 2011) The World Council of Churches (WCC) has appealed for a commitment to peace and cooperation, urging the countries belonging to the North Atlantic Treaty Association, NATO, to create the conditions for a world without nuclear weapons.
WCC general secretary Fykse Olav Tveit , in a letter addressed to the US President Barack Obama, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and the NATO Secretary General, Anders Fogh Rasmussen - called for the need to plan for the progressive elimination of nuclear warheads on the European continent. He also called for cooperation with Russia,in order to contribute actively in arms control, non-proliferation and disarmament. In this regard, in 2009, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of NATO, the leaders of various communities belonging to the WCC in two separate appeals, had affirmed the need for a review of policies of deterrence. Much earlier in 1983, at the WCC general assembly, it was pointed out that "nuclear weapons do not protect us from enemies - they are the enemies; they do not protect us from evil, they are evil."