UNITED NATIONS, UNITED STATES: Ukraine, Japan and Egypt won seats at the UN Security
Council on Thursday as world diplomacy is overshadowed by tensions with Russia
and bloodshed in the Middle East.
Senegal and Uruguay were also among the five countries
that garnered the required votes for council seats during a secret-ballot poll
held at the UN General Assembly.
The five countries ran unopposed for the non-permanent
seats after regional groups put them forward as their choice, but the
contenders still had to garner two-thirds of votes cast.
Applause and cheers broke out in the assembly hall after
first results showed Senegal had won the largest share, picking up 187 votes
followed by Uruguay with 185.
Japan picked up 184 votes, Egypt won 179 and Ukraine 177
in the 193-nation assembly.
Ukraine’s candidacy had been closely watched amid
expectations that sparks will fly with permanent council member Russia, which
is accused of supporting separatist rebels in the war in eastern Ukraine.
After the results were announced, Ukrainian President
Petro Poroshenko posted a victorious “Yes, we did it!” on his Facebook page.
The vote “opens new possibilities for Ukraine to protect
its sovereignty and territorial integrity,” he wrote.
Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin hailed the result as “a
very important day for Ukraine” and stressed that his country “understands the
value of peace, struggling under Russian aggression.”
Kiev’s envoy “will be making the case for Ukraine, for our
fight” at the council, Klimkin told reporters.
The newly-elected members will begin their two-year stint
on January 1, replacing Chad, Chile, Jordan, Lithuania and Nigeria.
One of the most experienced non-permanent members, Japan,
will be taking its seat for the 11th time as it is locked in an island dispute
with China and bristles at Beijing’s global role.
Tokyo is also making a push at the United Nations for
expanding the 15-member council and making Japan a permanent member, a plan
fiercely opposed by China and resisted by Russia and the United States.
Japanese Ambassador Motohide Yoshikawa said Tokyo wants to
make the council “stronger and also more open” and recalled that Pope Francis
had spoken out in favour of Security Council reform during his UN visit last
month.
Taking a tough line on North Korea, Japan is expected to
raise concerns about the Pyongyang regime at the council even though China
sought to block discussion about human rights when it came up in December.
Yoshikawa said he hoped that the council will “be seized”
by North Korea’s dismal rights record “at the appropriate moment” and decide on
the how to deal with the “betterment of the human rights issue.”
Egypt is returning to the council for the sixth time as
Yemen, Libya, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories join Syria on the list of
Middle East crisis spots.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said his country
will work “to resolve the very many issues” on the UN agenda.
The five newcomers will join the other five non-permanent
council members: Angola, Malaysia, New Zealand, Spain and Venezuela.
The campaign for a seat at the top diplomatic table caps
months and, in some cases, years of lobbying by contenders.
As voting got underway, delegates at the General Assembly
were handed gift bags with chocolates from Ukraine, tea from Japan, pens from
Senegal and a football from Uruguay.
Source: Tribune
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