Five countries win seats on the UN Security Council

UNITED NATIONS -- Five countries won seats connected the United Nations Security Council connected Tuesday successful uncontested elections and volition commencement serving two-year presumption successful January connected the U.N.’s astir almighty but profoundly divided body.

The 193-member General Assembly held a secret-ballot ballot for the 5 rotating seats connected the 15-member council. Bahrain received 186 votes, Congo 183 votes, Liberia 181 votes, Colombia 180 votes and Latvia 178 votes.

This volition beryllium the archetypal clip connected the assembly for Latvia, which was forcibly incorporated into the Soviet Union and gained independency again aft its illness successful 1991.

Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braže told reporters aft the ballot her Baltic federation is acceptable for the responsibility, saying, “Our humanities acquisition puts america successful the presumption to understand, empathize with, and forge partnerships crossed each portion successful the world.”

“We cognize the worth of freedom,” she said. “We cognize the fragility of bid and the powerfulness of multilateralism to safeguard it.”

Braže said Latvia volition spare nary effort to execute conscionable and lasting peace successful Ukraine and to alleviate suffering successful the Middle East, Gaza, Africa and different conflicts astir the globe.

Bahrain volition beryllium the Arab typical connected the council, and Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani said his country’s predetermination to the assembly for a 2nd clip reinforces its determination to beryllium “a proactive contributor" to planetary bid and security.

“Our extremity is to fortify bid and stableness wrong our region,” Al Zayani said, stressing that resolving the decades-old Palestinian-Israeli struggle is “the cornerstone for achieving bid successful the region.”

The contiguous requirement, helium said, is simply a ceasefire and monolithic influx of humanitarian assistance into Gaza, the merchandise of each hostages taken from Israel connected Oct. 7, 2023, and advancement toward a two-state solution and “a viable authorities of Palestine.”

The Security Council is mandated successful the U.N. Charter with ensuring planetary bid and security, but it has failed successful the 2 large conflicts due to the fact that of the veto powerfulness of Russia connected Ukraine and the United States, Israel's closest ally, connected Gaza.

There person been decades of efforts to betterment the Security Council to bespeak the geopolitical realities of the satellite successful 2025, not of the post-World War II epoch 80 years ago, erstwhile the United Nations was established. But they person each failed.

The assembly inactive includes 5 veto-wielding imperishable members — the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France — and 10 elected members from the U.N.’s antithetic determination groups. One large failing is the lack of a imperishable spot for Africa oregon Latin America and the Caribbean.

Under its existent rules, 5 caller assembly members are elected each year. In January, the recently elected countries volition regenerate Algeria, Guyana, South Korea, Sierra Leone and Slovenia.

Foreign Minister Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner of Congo, which volition beryllium serving its 3rd word connected the council, told the assembly its predetermination not lone reflects assurance successful her country, “it is besides a reflection of Africa’s unity and its rightful spot successful shaping the planetary bid and information agenda.”

Asked astir the ongoing fighting by equipped groups successful the country’s mineral-rich east, she said Congo volition bring to the assembly the cognition of dealing with decades of conflict, the challenges of U.N. peacekeeping operations and protecting civilians, and “the convergence betwixt conflict, earthy resources, and biology changes.”

Liberia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Deweh Gray, whose state was past connected the assembly successful 1961, said her state has “an unwavering resoluteness to marque a quality for all” and to tackle the formidable challenges facing the satellite including conflict, inequality and clime change, “to sanction a few.”

“Liberia’s ballot is simply a ballot for Africa,” she said, “and we shall guarantee that we travel the African communal position.”

Colombia’s U.N. Ambassador Leonor Zalabata urged each countries to unite and “keep moving unneurotic in harmony with nature to sphere what we person and physique bid successful the world.” And she said, “We invitation you each to support moving successful the way of quality rights.”

___