Hans Blix, Chairman of the Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission, on a visit at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs

Press release 98/2008
26 March, 2008

Dr. Hans Blix, Chairman of the Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission (WMDC), is visiting Helsinki on 26 March. His programme included a meeting with Foreign Minister Ilkka Kanerva. In the afternoon, Dr. Blix gave a lecture at the event “The Challenge of Freeing the World from Weapons of Mass Destruction” organised by the Finnish Institute of International Affairs and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

Dr. Blix’s visit is associated with the Final Report of the WMDC, which was originally published in June 2006 and has just been released in Finnish translation.

Hans Blix is a distinguished Swedish diplomat who served, for instance, as Foreign Minister of Sweden in 1978–1979, as Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency in 1981–1997, and as Executive Chairman of the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) in 2000–2003. In 2003, Blix was appointed to lead the independent Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission. The Commission’s Final Report contains recommendations on how to reduce the threat caused by weapons of mass destruction.

The Commission’s website: www.wmdcommission.org(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window)

Further information: Outi Holopainen, Head of the Unit for Arms Control, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, mobile tel. +358 40 354 7518