Your Majesties
Nobel Laureate
Excellencies
Distinguished Guests

“I had seen nothing sacred, and the things that were glorious had no glory and the sacrifices were like the stockyards at Chicago if nothing was done with the meat except to bury it. Abstract words such as glory, honor, courage, or hallow were obscene beside the concrete names of villages, the numbers of roads, the names of rivers, the numbers of regiments and the dates.”

It was with these words that Ernest Hemingway described the deceitful face of war in his novel “A Farewell to Arms”.

Glory, honour, courage. These are the masks of war. Yet behind such masks lie the true realities of war; a reflection of humankind’s darkest sides.

All cultures, all nations, have a murky side; one that is so often covered up by a nation’s need to glorify its own self-image.

Nations’ heroes are wars’ victors. But when the mask slips, wars’ strategists – in their efforts to eclipse each other – may often be seen to sink ever deeper into calculated atrocity. Into a moral and ethical insensitivity that casts aside the values of humanity.

The human race is a dangerous animal, we slaughter our own species.

The potential for atrocity lies within each and every one of us, irrespective of where in the world we come from.

What are the mechanisms that lead people to evil?
Wealth, power, greed and desire are tried and tested notions.
But still the question is one of humanity’s impenetrable riddles.
The path from the superb dinner we are enjoying here at the Grand Hotel to the rows of dead children in Syria is shorter than we would like to believe.

In a world where globalization can act to unite humankind, the struggle against the murky side within us is of immense consequence.

It is a struggle about inspiring a collective self-image in which we as humankind protect our sanctity.

It is plain to see that we need the international community to work better and the international legal system to be strengthened.

The growth of such institutions as the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons is absolutely decisive in order to go in the right direction.

The international community’s challenge is to further strengthen international co-operation so that we acquire operational solutions and the capacity to back up our demands with power.

Your Majesties,
Dear friends,

Every age needs its heroes.
These heroes are our models.
They reflect our societies’ mentality, our ideals, our aims.
Just like the late Nelson Mandela, who, in his own unique way, united us as one people, a people of the world.
Yesterday’s heroes were often those who brought victory in battle.
Tomorrow’s heroes must be those who carry the spirit of unity, who take humanity forward.
Those who work in the service of humanity.

The highly qualified technical personnel of the OPCW are wonderful examples of the kind of heroes the world needs today.
These men and women are today’s heroes, dedicated to the greater good of all humanity.
They save children, mothers and brothers from regimes that are willing to inflict immense civilian agony.
By working in conflict areas and seeking out extremely poisonous substances, they exhibit courage and compassion.
The job of a weapons inspector is one of the most dangerous in the world.

A speech based on the subject of chemical weapons is hardly the recipe for a cheerful evening’s celebration.
Let us therefore remind ourselves that in the fight against destructive forces, the belief in humanity and a good portion of humor are the most important weapons.
The good conversation, the compassion for others, the shared laugh.
All to the backdrop of an exquisite meal, like the one we’ve been enjoying this evening.
For which I would like to express my huge gratitude to the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

Director-General Üzümcü, please allow me to give your organisation, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, my warmest congratulations on being awarded the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize.

Hemingway called for "A Farewell to Arms". Let us embrace his wishes, and together obliterate the most atrocious of them all – chemical weapons.

Your Majesties,
Dear all,

Please join me in a toast to the Nobel Laureate.