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UN seeks to force explanations for Security Council vetoes

April 26, 2022

The five permanent members of the UN Security Council, the US, the UK, France, China and Russia have veto power. A new resolution seeks to spotlight how and why these members exercise that power.

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Images from devastation in Ukraine are displayed during a meeting of the UN Security Council earlier this month
The UN Security Council has been all but paralyzed by Russia's veto and its threat to veto resolutions regarding its invasion of UkraineImage: John Minchillo/AP/picture alliance

The UN General Assembly voted by consensus to pass a resolution seen as a first step towards holding the five permanent members of the UN Security Council accountable when they make use of their veto power.

Those five permanent members, the US, the UK, France, China and Russia, will not see their veto power eliminated but rather for the first time, the General Assembly will be required "to hold a debate on the situation" within 10 working days of them vetoing a proposal.

The consensus vote in support was met with applause in the 193-member assembly.

The Security Council format has long been criticized for struggling, or typically failing, to agree on anything that displeases any of its five permanent members. Russia's invasion of Ukraine only served to put this longstanding issue in much sharper focus.

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What is the purpose of the resolution?

The resolution would allow the veto-caster to be the earliest speaker in a session following a veto.

The General Assembly would not be obliged to take any action as a result of such session, but still the move aims to place the permanent members under the microscope of global opinion when they chose to veto a proposal.

Liechtenstein's ambassador to the UN Christian Wenaweser spearheaded the initiative.

He said it aspired "to promote the voice of all of us who are not veto-holders, and who are not on the Security Council, on matters of international peace and security because they affect all of us."

Why is the UN Security Council in focus right now?

Recently, Russia's use of its veto on resolutions in regard to what it terms its "special military operations" in Ukraine and its threat of future vetoes has paralyzed the UN's most powerful body when it comes to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

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The US and the UK, both permanent members, were co-sponsors of the resolution. Roughly 80 nations in total, including Germany, signed on as co-sponsors to Liechtenstein's proposal.

What is the structure of the UN Security Council?

In addition to the five permanent members, the UN Security Council also has 10 members that are elected for two-year terms that do not exercise veto power.

Since 1945 when the UN was created in the ashes of the Second World War, more than 200 UN Security Council proposals have been vetoed, according to the UN's records.

The resolutions vetoed have included proposals on the Korean War, the Israel-Palestine conflict, climate change, reports on weapons and governance of a part of the Indian Ocean nation of Comoros.

The Soviet Union and its successor Russia have used their veto power the most, followed by the US.

For more than 40 years, reform of the UN Security Council has been debated but numerous efforts have failed.

ar/msh (AFP, AP)