NATO Warns of Unsecure Russian Biological Weapons

A NATO report issued yesterday found that Russian biological weapons are poorly guarded and could be obtained by terrorists, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Nov. 9).

The report was presented to the science committee at NATO’s Parliamentary Assembly session. It said that stopping terrorists from accessing the Russian weapons is Europe’s greatest security challenge.

Former Soviet bioweapons facilities lack proper security and could be entered with little effort, the report states. Not officially part of the Soviet bioweapons program, these facilities are not eligible for Western financial assistance.

Senator Pierre Claude Nolin, Canada’s general rapporteur, said nonproliferation efforts for biological weapons suffer from “paltry spending” (Associated Press, Nov. 13).

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