Expert Mission on HCoC with Vietnam

10 December 2020

Hybrid

On 10 December 2020, the FRS and representatives from the government of Vietnam discussed over ballistic missile proliferation and the role of the Hague Code of Conduct. This event took the form of a hybrid event with representatives of Vietnam gathering in Hanoi and experts from FRS, the EU, the Swiss Chair and Austria presenting virtually.

This mission was part of a series of targeted national visits.

AGENDA

PRESENTATION & SCOPE OF THE PROJECT

  • Alexandre HOUDAYER, Secretary General, FRS
  • Georgios KRITIKOS, Deputy Head of Division, Disarmament, Non-proliferation and Arms Export Control, European External Action Service, European Union

 

I/ KEYNOTE INTRODUCTION – MISSILE PROLIFERATION: A GLOBAL CHALLENGE

  • Emmanuelle MAITRE, Research Fellow, FRS

 

II/ THE HCoC: A MULTILATERAL INSTRUMENT TO CURB THE PROLIFERATION OF MISSILES

MODERATOR:

  • Emmanuelle MAITRE, Research Fellow, FRS

 

PRESENTERS:

  • Benno LAGGNER, Resident Representative to the IAEA, Permanent Representative to the CTBTO PrepCom, Permanent Mission of Switzerland, Vienna, Austria, Current Chair of the HCoC
  • Tran Chi THANH, Deputy Director General, Department of International Organizations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), Vietnam
  • Elisabeth VEIT, Desk Officer, Department for Disarmament, Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, Austria, Immediate Central Contact/Executive Secretariat HCoC
  • Alexandre HOUDAYER, Secretary General, FRS
  • Lauriane HEAU, European Projects Manager, FRS

 

 

 

KEY ISSUES:

  • Contribution of the Code to international security
  • Being a Subscribing State: commitments and benefits
  • Day-to-day implementation of the Code
  • What opportunities for Vietnam in joining the Code? What constraints?
  • Q&A and debate

 

All publications

Limiting the proliferation of WMD means of delivery: a low-profile approach to bypass diplomatic deadlocks

Since the creation of the HCoC in 2002, the need for more collective commitment and action to fight the proliferation of ballistic missiles has certainly not decreased. The destabilizing nature of these weapons has not changed. Non-proliferation is just less about keeping the world stable and more about not adding a risk factor to an uncertain future. The HCoC was and remains a response to that need, but certainly not the end of the quest for improvement.

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All publications

The HCoC and African States

While both ballistic programmes and the risk posed by these systems remain very limited on the African continent, ballistic missiles inherently constitute a global risk – due to their range and destructive potential. Instruments such as the HCoC, which seek to limit the proliferation of such systems, are therefore relevant for African countries.

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All publications

The HCoC and China

China is currently the main ballistic missile possessor and spacefaring nation which remains outside the Hague Code of Conduct against Ballistic Missile Proliferation (HCoC). This can be explained by China’s traditional opacity regarding its deployment of strategic missiles, but also its exports of ballistic systems or technologies abroad. This absence is nonetheless problematic for a regime based on voluntary transparency and confidence-building which aims at universality.

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