Chair,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the EU. The candidate countries North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and Bosnia and Herzegovina[1]  and Georgia, the EFTA countries Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, as well as Monaco and San Marino, align themselves with this statement.

The EU thanks Kazakhstan and the Group of Friends of Arealess States for their continued efforts to raise awareness of this long-standing open issue affecting a number of IAEA Member States. We also thank Ambassador Holger Federico Martinsen of Argentina for having temporarily assumed the Chairmanship of the Friends Group and for his suggestions towards identifying possible solutions. We wish him every success for his future endeavours.

The EU will continue to support the Group of Friends with the hope that further progress can be achieved towards implementing the important provision of sovereign equality enshrined in Article IV of the IAEA Statute.

The EU fully recognises the concerns expressed by those States, which are not currently part of any regional group and do not have the possibility to assume office holder positions, nor become Board members. It goes without saying that the rights of all IAEA Member States resulting from their membership, as per the Statute, should be respected. All Member States complying with their obligations should have a fair chance to participate in decision-making in the IAEA policy-making bodies. In this regard, the recent inclusion of three former arealess States into two regional groups is a positive step forward.

The EU welcomes the recent acceptance of the 1999 Amendment to Article VI of the IAEA Statute by Turkmenistan and encourages all IAEA Member States that have not yet done so, including all arealess States, to accept this amendment. The entry into force of this amendment would enlarge the composition of the Board of Governors and represent an important step towards more equality and inclusiveness. All 27 EU Member States have already accepted the said amendment. 

Thank you, Chair.

[1] North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.