Mr. Chair,

Germany aligns itself with the statement delivered by the European Union. I would like to add remarks in our national capacity and focus on two issues of great importance to our delegation: first, the working methods of this committee and second, the Conference on Disarmament.

First, on the First Committee, Germany together with France has put forward a set of ideas outlining ways to make the work of the First Committee more efficient and focused, which so far found a lot of interest and support. We believe that meaningful progress in disarmament requires not only substantive ambition, but also structural reform. As such, we suggest:

• Shorter and more concise statements to allow more interactive and substantial debate;

• Multi-year resolutions, so that the Committee can devote more time to new and pressing issues;

• A reduction in the number of clusters, enabling delegations to engage more effectively on the substance; and

• A generally shorter First Committee session, making the process more manageable and purposeful.

These proposals are not an end in themselves, but meant as the starting point for a discussion we invite all delegations to engage constructively in.

Second, turning to the Conference on Disarmament (CD), Germany welcomes that the CD entered substantive work early this year showing a degree of continuity in its work which remains essential to progress. The establishment of the subsidiary bodies at the beginning of this year has enabled broad and in-depth exchanges that have fostered mutual understanding and offered valuable space for dialogue. We have to continue this path. However, without the political will to depart from entrenched positions, the CD will remain unable to fulfil its mandate.

Furthermore, the CD has experienced another major setback. For the third time, sixteen UN Member States who don’t only contribute financially to the CD’s work but also showed interest in participating were denied observer status—fifteen of them alone by Russia. This practice runs directly counter to the principle of inclusivity. This year it was sixteen; in the future it could be others who fall out of political favour of Russia and will experience equal denial. This is simply unacceptable. Such exclusions damage not only the CD’s credibility and legitimacy but the credibility of the entire UN system.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.