Ukraine calls on UN to reform Security Council

21.11.2018 09:30

Ukrinform

The UN Security Council in its current form cannot guarantee peace and security in today's conflicts and must be truly reformed, otherwise people will continue to be killed because of the impotence of this influential UN mechanism.

A counsellor of the Permanent Mission of Ukraine to the United Nations, Eduard Fesko, said this in a statement at a session of the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"It is plainly obvious to probably everyone that the Security Council in its current form is ill suited to effectively address challenges of the 21st century," Ukraine's representative said.

He said that while the UN family procrastinates with the reform of the Security Council, "people die out there just because the current Council is simply impotent to help them."

Ukraine's experience of being on the UN Security Council in 2016-2017, according to the diplomat, "only strengthened our conviction that without a genuine reform the Council will be doomed to lose its relevance and standing in the wider international context."

Fesko stressed that before the start of a new round of consultations in the format of non-governmental organizations, Ukraine reiterates its position that it is open to discussing all progressive options and new approaches to the UN Security Council reform, in particular those that are aimed at streamlining the negotiation process and making it more pragmatic and result-oriented. In this regard, he outlined two aspects that Ukraine is focusing on.

"First, it is the representation in the Council of the Eastern European Group. It is a matter of principle for us that at least one additional seat should be given to the EEG in the category of elected members," the Ukrainian diplomat said.

Secondly, he said, there is a need "to reconsider the role of the veto in the work of the Security Council," and this issue is one of the most outstanding priorities.

"When a permanent member of the Security Council is a party to a conflict, regarding which the Security Council is about to adopt a possible decision, the 'veto' right becomes a direct obstruction and hindrance to carrying out the Council's primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security," the diplomat said.

He expressed hope that this year the UN member states would be able to make progress towards a common goal of having a reformed Security Council.