Seanad debates

Thursday, 27 November 2003

Address by Ms Nuala Ahern, MEP.

 

I am aware of Ms Ahern's interest in the nuclear industry. I was glad when the Taoiseach met Silvio Berlusconi and told him we were not as enthusiastic as he was about President Putin's control in the former Soviet Union. We strongly objected to its human rights record in Chechnya and other places. I was extremely glad the Taoiseach did that. However, I do not know if he spoke to him about the proliferation of nuclear material under President Putin's reign. We talk about Iran, but Russia has sold material to some dodgy governments, such as the Burmese Government whose human rights record is appalling. We do not have any idea what the Burmese Government is doing about anything or what it proposes to do with the nuclear material it has bought. That is not the only country to which it has sold such material. A big problem is that President Bush is in the process of developing what he calls small nuclear bombs, which will only attack bunkers. This prevents criticism of President Putin for allowing so much nuclear material to be sold to other countries. Does Ms Ahern think we should highlight during our Presidency that this dispersal of nuclear material is wrong and ask the United States to pull back from what it is doing in terms of nuclear armaments?

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