US backs 2 permanent seats for African nations in UNSC
Want to fulfill long demand of African allies, a reasonable honour: US Raises India, Japan cases
UNITED NATIONS: The United States announced Thursday that it will support the addition of two new permanent seats for African countries on the powerful U.N. Security Council — and a first-ever non-permanent seat for a small island developing nation.
U.S Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield made the announcement in a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations, calling it a follow-up to U.S. President Joe Biden’s announcement two years ago that the U.S. supports expanding the 15-member body.
While Africa has three non-permanent seats on the Security Council, that doesn’t allow African countries “to deliver the full benefit of their knowledge and voices,” she said.
“That is why, in addition to non-permanent membership for African countries, the United States supports creating two permanent seats for Africa on the council,” Thomas-Greenfield said. “It’s what our African partners seek, and it’s what we believe is just.” However, a senior U.S. administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to brief reporters ahead of the announcement, said Washington doesn’t think any new permanent members should have veto power because “extending the veto would lead to only greater deadlock on the council.”
That view shows the limits in the amount of power that Washington wants to give to any other country. While Security Council resolutions are legally binding, they are often ignored by targeted countries.
Virtually all countries agree that nearly eight decades after the United Nations was established in the wake of World War II, the Security Council should be expanded to reflect the world in the 21st century and include more voices. But the central question — and the biggest disagreement — remains how to do it.
In September 2022, Biden called for increasing the number of both permanent and non-permanent members, including “permanent seats for those nations we’ve long supported, and permanent seats for countries in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean.” The United States has long supported permanent seats for Germany, Japan and India.
NEW YORK: The US has reaffirmed its “longstanding support” for India, Japan and Germany to sit as permanent members in the United Nations Security Council, as it announced new proposals on reform of the powerful UN body. She also announced at the Council on Foreign Relations at a talk on ‘Future of Multilateralism and UN Reform’ that the US supports creating a new elected seat on the Security Council for Small Island Developing States and supports engaging in text-based negotiations. “We affirm our longstanding support for Germany, India, and Japan, and we’ve also said there should be representation from the GRULAC countries,” the official added, making a reference to the Group of Latin America and Caribbean Countries.
Each has critical insights on a range of international peace and security issues including, notably, the impact of climate change.
— Thomas-Greenfield, US Ambassador to the UN