At the 29th OPCW Conference of States Parties held in The Hague from 25 – 29 November 2024 many States Parties expressed their grave concern about the continuing non-compliance of the Assad regime with the CWC as well as about the use of riot control agents (RCA) by Russia in its war of aggression against Ukraine. Susanne Riegraf, Acting Federal Government Commissioner for Disarmament and Arms Control, referring to Russia’s use of RCA in Ukraine, stated that “Any breach of Article I of the CWC is most serious and cannot be tolerated.” (Link to the full statement).

The German delegation congratulated Czechia and North Macedonia from the Eastern European Group on their elections as members of the Executive Council (2025-27).

Together with his colleague from Costa Rica, the German Permanent Representative to the OPCW Ambassador Schieb presented their joint report on “Consultations on Engagement with Civil Society” (link to the report).

Germany participated in two joint Side-Events – one together with Lithuania and Poland discussing developments regarding the so-called “sea-dumped chemical weapons”. At the second side-event, Algerian and German experts informed States Parties about how a Algerian Laboratory, with the support of a German partner laboratory in the framework of a OPCW Lab Twinning Project, managed to gain a OPCW Lab designation, as currently the only laboratory in Africa. For this achievement, the Algerian Laboratory was awarded the prestigious OPCW The Hague Award 2024.