Виступ делегації України на засіданні ГА ООН щодо реформування Ради Безпеки
Mr. President,
We appreciate the convention of today’s debate and would like to express our support of efforts of the President of the UN General Assembly to reenergize the process of the reform of the Security Council.
There is hardly any delegation present in this hall, which does not share the basic premise that the Security Council in its current form is in a dire need of a serious reform.
At the same time, as we are all well aware, this is the point, where the general agreement ends.
Some member states advocate a radical overhaul of the Security Council, some call for a more moderate approach.
Some member states insist that the reform should have been carried out already, some advocate a very measured approach to the issue of timing.
Some member states stand ready to proceed to hammering out the existing differences in the process of the actual text based negotiations, some are quick to point out that the UN family has not achieved consensus not just on substantive issues, but on the procedural matters as well.
Where does it leave us?
If we are frank, then we have to admit that the reform process has not made much progress compared to the times of the Open-ended Working Group on the Question of Equitable Representation on and Increase in the Membership of the Security Council and Other Matters related to the Security Council, which was created by the GA resolution 48/26 back in the already distant 1993.
Of course, there have been changes (and quite significant at that) in the work of the Council over the recent decades. Its working methods improved quite dramatically, its activities have become more transparent and accessible to the UN wider membership, the workload itself has increased manifold.
However, the inherent deficiencies in the Council’s design, its composition, its decision making processes, remain largely unaddressed.
Dear colleagues,
Ukraine holds the position that making the Security Council more representative and bringing its working methods in line with the demands of the modern times is something that is long overdue.
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.
It is extremely regretful that while the world outside these walls is calling loud and clear for a more efficient Council, the UN member states find themselves stuck in a seemingly perpetual circle of repeating their well-known positions on the Council reform year after year and not being able to make any tangible process.
It won’t be an exaggeration to say that while the UN family procrastinates with the reform of the Council, people die out there just because the current Council is simply impotent to help them.
Our experience of being on the Council in 2016-2017 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.
Having said that, I would like to applaud the efforts of all elected members of the Council, past and present, to improve its working methods. To be fair, quite often permanent members also do their best to help to elevate the Council above its limitations.
Mr. President,
We are grateful to the previous session’s Co-Chairs of the intergovernmental negotiations on the UN Security Council reform, distinguished Permanent Representatives of Georgia and the United Arab Emirates, for their sincere efforts and all the hard work in trying to build bridges and narrow gaps between member-states positions.
We hope that a new co-chair (or co-chairs) will be appointed in the nearest future.
As we are about to embark on a new round of consultations in the format of the IGN, I would like to reiterate Ukraine’s position that we are 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.
On our part, there are two issues that we consider of utmost importance in the overall reform process.
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.
Second, I cannot but stress that for my country the need for the UN membership to reconsider the role of the veto in the work of the Security Council is one of the most outstanding priorities.
All of us have seen too many instances when the “veto” right was used by permanent members of the Security Council in direct contravention of their duties to maintain international peace and security. Thus, we advocate phasing out of the “veto” right and strongly support all initiatives aimed at limiting the use of “veto”.
At the very least, the use of “veto” should be restricted not only to cases when the Security Council considers a decision aimed at prevention of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes (as per the respective French-Mexican initiative and the ACT Code of Conduct), but also when a permanent member is involved in a conflict or a situation being considered by the Security Council and, therefore, cannot exercise its voting rights impartially due to the conflict of interests.
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.
We are convinced that this issue of limiting, in relevant situations, the ability of a party to a conflict to abuse a veto right has to be considered in the course of the IGN and implemented as an integral part of the Security Council reform.
Mr. President
In conclusion, I hope that this year we will be able to make progress towards a common goal of having a reformed Security Council and my delegation stands ready to engage constructively with all UN member-states sharing this goal.
I thank you