85 Seconds to Midnight: Why Europe Must Stop Normalising Doomsday Politics

As the Doomsday Clock ticks closer, Europe must reject nuclear weapons now.

On 27 January at 15:00 GMT, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists unveiled the Doomsday Clock. The livestream was available at: https://thebulletin.org/doomsday-clock/

In 2025, the Bulletin set the Clock to 89 seconds to Doomsday — at the time, the closest it had ever been. On 27 January 2026, the hands were moved forward by several more seconds, and the Clock now stands at 85 seconds to midnight — the closest point to Doomsday in its entire history. We did not truly expect governments to change course, but we had hoped they might. That hope has not been realised.

Melissa Parke: “The Doomsday Clock is not a prediction, it’s a warning. Nuclear weapons, wars from Ukraine to Gaza, the climate crisis and runaway technologies are all part of the problem – but they are all created by humanity. That means we can also change course. The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) is a clear path to turn back the hands of the clock”, Melissa Parke, ICANs Executive Director says.

It might be useful for your outreach and responses to consider the following:

There is a way to “rewind” the Clock!

Remove nuclear weapons from Europe.

Europe already has strong humanitarian, legal and public-opinion foundations for disarmament; European states should lead on TPNW universalisation, verification, and assistance to victims – not on inventing a Eurobomb. Call on host states (Belarus, Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Türkiye, United Kingdom – and any future hosts) to commit to timelines for the withdrawal of foreign nuclear weapons and not to accept any new deployments. The real ‘European project’ is to become a TPNW powerhouse. More on countries with nuclear weapons, and those with shared nuclear weapons: https://www.icanw.org/nuclear_arsenals

Join and implement the TPNW.

Use the Clock moment to argue that the only credible way to permanently move the hands back is to stigmatise, prohibit and eliminate nuclear weapons through the Ban Treaty. Near term risk-reduction measures that include renewed arms reduction agreements (including bilateral agreements), a return to transparency, and stopping proliferation rhetoric, can also build momentum towards the TPNW. More on the treaty: https://www.icanw.org/the_treaty

Centre public opinion and democracy.

Highlight that in countries like Belgium, large majorities want to join the TPNW and remove US nuclear weapons; keeping bombs against the will of the public is part of the democratic deficit the Clock warns about. 77% (2020) of Belgium’s population support joining the TPNW. ICANs newest poll from Switzerland (December 2025) shows that 72% of the Swiss – want the same.

More on TPNW signature and ratification status: https://www.icanw.org/signature_and_ratification_status

In the photo above, we see Bulletin President and CEO Alexandra Bell moving the minute hand on the Doomsday Clock. (Credit: Jamie Christiani)