Chair,
I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States.
The Candidate Countries North Macedonia, Montenegro*, Serbia*, Albania*, Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina* and Georgia, and the EFTA country Iceland, member of the European Economic Area, align themselves with this statement.
The EU is a staunch supporter of capacity-building in conventional non-proliferation and disarmament through international assistance, itself funding several ongoing programs to support global and regional SALW control, non-proliferation export controls, and implementation of the ATT.
Since the last Review Conference in 2024, the EU continued pursuing several SALW-control projects with a focus on voluntary civilian disarmament campaigns, collection and destruction of surplus SALW and ammunition, physical security and stockpile management for SALW and ammunition, and capacity-building for marking, record-keeping and tracing SALW. They included support for the UN Programme of Action under the Council Decision implemented by UNODA, extended in 2025 for the period until 2028, which benefits Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Asia-Pacific region, through activities undertaken by the three UN regional centres for disarmament. Notably, in 2025 the extension also broadened the thematic coverage, to address also the implementation of the Global Framework for Through-life Conventional Ammunition Management.
📍 BMS9 | 🌊Maritime routes remain a key vector for the illicit trafficking of small arms and light weapons.
As part of the Ninth Biennial Meeting of States (BMS9) to the UN Programme of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW), the European Union, its Member States and the… pic.twitter.com/zZUFzMvEu7
— EU Non-Proliferation and Disarmament (@EU_NonProlif) June 4, 2026
Many of the EU projects over the above-mentioned period have had a regional scope and have been implemented with the help of regional organisations. For instance, in Latin America and the Caribbean, EU collaboration with the Organization of American States (OAS) continued and was extended until 2028. The Member States and the Secretariat of the League of Arab States continued to benefit from the EU’s support under a project with funding secured until 2027.
The EU also committed to continuing to support Ukraine building up robust capacity to monitor the stocks, the acquisition and possession of firearms and SALW, investigate and prosecute their illegal possession and trafficking, support international cooperation and assistance in this area, and support the designation, development, training, and equipping of appropriate state agencies aiming at an effective control and disposal of firearms and SALW. The EU and Ukraine also remained committed to actively exposing and countering information manipulation in this area. The longstanding cooperation between the EU and Ukraine continued guided by joint security commitments between the EU and Ukraine of June 2024, and the EU Action Plan on Firearms Trafficking. The EU-funded projects in support of Ukraine have been implemented by the OSCE, SEESAC, and Conflict Armament Research.
South-East Europe also remained in focus of the EU actions regarding its neighbourhood. The EU continues to support activities by SEESAC and OSCE in the Western Balkans, the Republic of Moldova. The EU backed efforts by SEESAC to assist in implementing the Roadmap for a Sustainable Solution to the Illegal Possession, Misuse and Trafficking of SALW and Their Ammunition in the Western Balkans by 2024. We welcome the extension of the Roadmap until 2030 and remain engaged in support for its implementation.
Globally, iTrace, a reporting mechanism on illicit SALW and other illicit conventional weapons and ammunition in conflict-affected areas, is continuing operations in conflict areas in the Middle East, West and East Africa, the Gulf, Central Asia and Ukraine, assisting efforts to disrupt illicit trade in arms and ammunition and diversion of uncontrolled and dual-use items to unauthorized military use.
Since 2020, the EU has been funding the development of AAMVS, a self-assessment tool for capacities to protect arms and ammunition stockpiles from diversion, devised and developed by GICHD-AMAT. It is designed to be user-friendly and to deliver actionable conclusions, without compromising sensitive data to third parties. The AAMVS will be very soon made available free of charge to willing states. We encourage states, regional organizations and other stakeholders to recognize AAMVS as a means to contribute to their implementation of the UN Programme of Action.
The EU, in recognition of the role of the Arms Trade Treaty in the establishment of robust national systems and to stimulate international cooperation to prevent the diversion of SALW, also maintained its capacity-building support to countries in Africa, Latin America, and South-East and Central Asia in strengthening their national systems in line with the Treaty’s requirements. This has been provided under the ATT Outreach project implemented by Germany’s Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control (BAFA) and France’s international technical cooperation agency Expertise France, with the current phase lasting until 2028, and through the EU-funded activities of the ATT Secretariat, with the current phase lasting until late 2027.
The EU also continues to promote effective arms export controls among countries in South and East Europe, Caucasus, Middle East and North Africa, as well as Central Asia, under COARM Outreach Project implemented by the German BAFA, currently funded until 2028.
For the EU, supporting and advancing gender equality and the empowerment of women are at the core of our policies. In line with its SALW strategy adopted in 2018, the EU systematically applies gender mainstreaming in the design of new projects relating to the fight against gun violence and SALW control in general.
Chair,
The EU invests significant funding and expertise in supporting third states in building capacities to control SALW diversion and illegal trafficking. We stand ready to consider identified needs in planning of our actions, as appropriate, to further contribute to the achievement of the objectives of the UN Programme of Action.
- North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, and Bosnia and Herzegovina continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.