New York - Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon took part in a session of the Stockholm initiative for nuclear disarmament, which Slovenia joined in early July, as she was in New York on Monday and Tuesday for the 10th Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).

"I am proud that Slovenia has joined the Stockholm initiative, which is led by two women foreign ministers, German colleague Annalena Baerbock and Swedish colleague Ann Linde," Fajon was quoted as saying in a Foreign Ministry statement on Tuesday.

By joining the initiative and a separate document on reducing nuclear risks, the country is stepping up its activities and contribution to global efforts to preserve international peace and security, the ministry added.

Slovenia joined the initiative because of its pragmatic and results-oriented agenda which represents an upgrade of the gradual approach to nuclear disarmament, a goal Slovenia has advocated for several years, according to the ministry.

At Tuesday's session, Fajon said Slovenia supported the Stockholm initiative's 22-step approach with concrete goals, and called for the ongoing NPT review conference to reaffirm the NPT as the main cornerstone of the global architecture against nuclear proliferation and for disarmament.

She reaffirmed Slovenia's readiness to continue to work closely with the other countries of the initiative to attain achievable goals that will gradually lead to the goal of a world without nuclear weapons.

The idea for the Stockholm nuclear disarmament initiative came from Sweden and Germany in 2019. The initiative has 16 founding members and 24 associate members as it aims at encouraging a successful outcome of the 10th review conference of the parties to the NPT.

During her stay in New York, Fajon addressed the NPT review conference on Monday, when she also met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. One of the topics she discussed was Slovenia's bid to win a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council for the 2024-2025 period.