June 8, 2016, Amsterdam

The participants of the Luxemburg Forum Conference “The 30th anniversary of the Reykjavik Summit  – lessons of the past and the tasks for the future” express their deepest gratitude for your keynote address.

 

The Reykjavik Summit is an undeniable milestone towards building a safer world. Many of us remember how difficult it was for you to insist on having this meeting. The proposals you and President Reagan made about building a world free from nuclear weapons were way ahead of their time. Today, just like 30 years ago, this idea does not appear to be any less revolutionary.

 

The meeting in Reykjavik which took place at your initiative undoubtedly gave a strong impetus to the process of reduction and elimination of arms in all areas. Therefore, we have gathered here today to evaluate once again these positive consequences, to assess the long-term lessons of Reykjavik for the future.

 

Referring to your metaphor, we are hopeful that “the window opened in Reykjavik” by you and President Reagan is not being shut and never will be. Along with the obvious negative trends related to the “militarization of international relations” which you have underlined, we cannot but notice some signs of hope. Therefore, our efforts, the efforts of the Luxembourg Forum, will focus on nurturing and doing our utmost to promote these fledgling signs of hope.  We have had very useful exchanges and we have discussed a number of constructive initiatives to reduce nuclear dangers and arsenals.

 

We would like to join you in expressing our confidence that changes for the better are possible. We will strive towards this objective.

 

We would like to thank you once again for what you achieved in Reykjavik and for what you continue to do today.

 

We wish you good health and success in your endeavors.

 

The participants of the Luxemburg Forum Conference: