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06. 08. 09. - 15:00

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06. 08. 09. - 15:00

Austria remembers Hiroshima

By David Rogers

Austrian politicians have called for world leaders to bring an end to nuclear weapons as peace activists held a march in Vienna today (Thurs) to mark the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945.

Social Democratic (SPÖ) Chancellor Werner Faymann pledged the federal government would continue its anti-nuclear policy as he called 6 August a "day of remembrance" of a weapon that had the potential to exterminate the human race.

He demanded the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) on nuclear weapons was brought into force. "Without tests, there won’t be any (nuclear) weapons. Without tests, there won’t be any new nuclear powers," he said.

SPÖ First President of Parliament Barbara Prammer appealed to the world community to work for a reduction in nuclear weapons in international institutions. "Austria as a neutral country can and must be active on a diplomatic level," she said.

And former Greens’ leader Alexander Van der Bellen said that, although there was no prospect of a nuclear-weapon-free world in the near future, the talks between US President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitri Medvedev had created "a scintilla of hope."

SPÖ MP and spokeswoman on global development Petra Bayr called on the USA and Russia to negotiate an end to nuclear weapons. "We must never forget Hiroshima," she said.

Meanwhile the Vienna Peace Movement and Hiroshima Group Vienna have staged a march in remembrance of the bombing that began at the Stephansplatz in front of St. Stephen’s Cathedral in the inner city and will end with a torchlight parade in front of the pond on Karlsplatz.

Organisers of the march said they welcomed US President Obama’s decision to reduce the US’s nuclear arsenal and to start discussions on ridding the world of nuclear weapons with his Russian counterpart.

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