Mr. Vice-Chair,
I would like to thank you and the Permanent Mission of Senegal for taking over the role as presiding officer of the UNDC and assure you and the entire UNDC bureau of the full support of my delegation.
I would also like to thank the outgoing chair, Ambassador Pereira, his team, and the outgoing chairs of the two workings groups from Georgia and El Salvador for their efforts in ensuring a constructive and inclusive dialogue last year.

Excellencies, esteemed colleagues,
Germany fully aligns itself with the statement delivered by the EU. Please allow me to make a few additional comments in my national capacity:
In times of unprecedented global crises, one thing is clear: Multilateralism should be at the heart of our efforts. We need a forum for substantive discussions and collective progress. We need the United Nations. And we need an effective UNDC as a unique forum for structured dialogue that negotiates recommendations on key disarmament and non-proliferation topics.
We strongly regret that the Commission was not able to formally adopt the agenda of the substantive session and had to move into informal mode without discussing the working groups.
We also strongly regret that the Commission therefore is not able to fulfil its mandate to have an exchange of thoughts and ideas with the goal to formulate recommendations. A task which is at the core of multilateralism.
The discussions of the recent days however underlined the urgency to strengthen the UNDCs working method in order to restore its relevance. As you are aware, Germany, together with France, put forward a Non-Paper that outlines some ideas that could strengthen the UNDCs working methods, such as (1) electing a bureau for the entire UNDC cycle, (2) adjusting the length and/ or the structure of the annual sessions, so that it becomes easier for smaller delegations to attend all negotiations, and (3) shortening the UNDC thee-year-cycle to a two-year-cycle.
These are non-exhaustive proposals that aim at stimulating the discussion during the upcoming UNDC session on working methods, with the objective of implementing adjustments as early as the next UNDC cycle.

Mr. Vice-Chair,
Although, we regrettably have no dedicated exchange on the two mandated working groups, please allow me to share our thoughts on their topics.
With regard to Working Group I, Germany remains committed to nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation
Today, we live in challenging times for nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. Our security environment is deteriorating and trust is eroding.
Yet, Germany is convinced that despite the current political challenges, concrete and practical steps are possible and essential to achieve progress on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. We therefore continue to advocate for engagement in the following three areas: nuclear risk reduction, multidimensional transparency and nuclear disarmament verification.
The NPT has been and continues to be the bedrock of international security. It is one of the most universal and most successful international treaties. It delivers and offers benefits to all its State Parties and beyond.
We must not allow it to be weakened in the face of today’s challenges. We must strengthen it where we can.
Germany remains engaged in several multilateral cross-regional initiatives with the aim of de-polarization, bridge-building and contributing to consensus-finding at the upcoming NPT RevCon – first and foremost through the Stockholm Initiative, the NPDI and the initiative aimed at “Reducing the Risk for Nuclear Conflict”.

Mr. Vice-Chair,
Turning to Working Group II.
The acceleration of technological development from artificial intelligence to quantum computing can pose challenges to strategic stability and peace. We must be both vigilant and creative as we explore and mitigate the risks of these emerging technologies. At the same time, new technologies also offer unprecedented possibilities, for instance for verification of arms control or disarmament.
We are all aware that there are various multilateral processes and discussions ongoing, the challenge at the UNDC is to complement and not duplicate these processes. At UNDC, we saw a merit in discussing in particular how to strengthen mutual trust and confidence-building measures to make the most of emerging tech.

Mr. Vice-Chair,
Germany remains committed to advancing effective arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation, especially in times of growing international tensions. We will continue to engage constructively within this Commission and hope that we can return soon to substantial discussions.
Thank you.