ABSTRACT
The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) is both a reaction to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation (NPT)’s failures and a logical extension of its stated objective of nuclear elimination. At the same time, most of the important nuclear arms control treaties established since the 1970s have expired. Instead of disarming and decommissioning existing nuclear weapons as agreed in accordance with the NPT, all nuclear-armed states are modernising their nuclear arsenals. In the absence of arms control treaties, it will be impossible to legally enforce any limitations to those arsenals. In Belgium, the coalition agreement signed by the newly formed government on 30 September 2020 vowed to investigate how the Ban Treaty “can give a new impulse to multilateral nuclear disarmament,” making Belgium the only North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member state to recognise this treaty. Belgium is a small country and a military minnow, but for a number of reasons it would be wrong to conclude that this country’s actions – or inaction – with respect to the Nuclear Ban Treaty are irrelevant for the Atlantic alliance. By taking the opportunity to support the TPNW by becoming the first NATO signatory, Belgium could show the non-nuclear armed states that NATO’s projections of solidarity and security could reach beyond its borders.
