EU Standing President: "Russia's Mention of Nuclear Weapon Use Against Ukraine Is Unacceptable"

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] Charles Michel, the President of the European Union (EU) Council, visited Hiroshima, Japan, where an atomic bomb was dropped during World War II, and criticized Russia's suggestion that it might use nuclear weapons against Ukraine, saying it is unacceptable.

According to Kyodo News on the 13th, President Michel, during his visit to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, stated, "It is unacceptable for Russia to mention the use of nuclear weapons," emphasizing, "The suffering of Hiroshima and Nagasaki continues to this day, and the elimination of weapons of mass destruction is an urgent task." He also criticized North Korea, which launched a missile the previous day, saying, "North Korea is repeatedly conducting illegal and provocative missile tests," and "It poses a threat to global security."

President Michel and Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, held a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo the previous day to discuss the Ukraine situation and cooperation measures, and then visited Hiroshima on the same day. They laid flowers at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Cenotaph and met with Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui and atomic bomb survivors. This is the second visit by an EU Council President to Hiroshima, following Donald Tusk in June 2019.

An EU senior official told Kyodo News that Hiroshima is a symbolic site as a bombed location and also the hometown of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, which was cited as the reason for this visit.