Michael DeTar, chargé d’affaires at the US embassy reacted to my article ‘Don’t dump nukes in the Med’.

Nowhere in my article did I mention nuclear weapons or ‘nukes’. The unfortunate title was chosen by the newspaper.

My proposed title was ‘Chemical Weapons in the Mediterranean’ since the article was about the transfer of Syrian chemical weapons in the Mediterranean and did not refer in any way to nuclear weapons or nuclear activity.

Mr DeTar has a right to defend the position of the US Government. However, I stand by the points made in my article, which are shared by several members of the European Parliament who also signed the formal question to the Commission. We wanted to urge the Commission to ensure thatthe transfer of Syrian chemical weapons does not take place in the Mediterranean.

My colleagues and I asked the Commission what criteria and assessments were used to select the disposal site and which other sites were considered for the disposal.

We also asked if it was possible to amend the choice of the decommissioning site to preserve the ecosystem and the health of all European citizens in the Mediterranean.

I am satisfied that my action in the Parliament was positively received by the media and by the public at large.

As I mentioned in the article, a number of MEPs and I signed an appeal to the prime ministers of Greece and Italy requesting the protection of the Mediterranean basin. We asked them to act now on behalf of the EU and to address the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons as well as the United Nations to monitor the issue and ensure that the Mediterranean is not subjected to any environmental damage such as toxic waste dumping.