Statement by Mr.Dmitry Polyansky, First Deputy Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations, at the Security Council on Guinea-Bissau
We thank Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Tayé-Brook Zerihoun; Mr. Yury Fedotov, Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime; and Mr. Mauro Vieira, Permanent Representative of Brazil to the United Nations, in his capacity as Chair of the Guinea-Bissau configuration of the Peacebuilding Commission, for their informative briefings.
We also welcome the appointment of Mr. José Viegas Filho as Special Representative of the Secretary-General for GuineaBissau and wish him success in his work. We note the significant progress that has been made in resolving the political crisis in Guinea-Bissau since the appointment of Prime Minister Aristides Gomes by President José Mário Vaz in early April. We welcome the formation of a consensus Government, whose members, we understand, are acceptable to all the main political forces in Guinea-Bissau. We support the work of the country’s leadership in preparing for the parliamentary elections scheduled for November.
We expect the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Guinea-Bissau (UNIOGBIS) to provide effective support for the electoral processes, in line with its mandate established pursuant to resolution 2404 (2018).
We have taken note of the plans to convene a national assembly on issues related to a review of the Constitution in the near future. We believe that will be extremely important from the point of view of formulating proposals for reforming the country’s founding laws and avoid any future repetition of the current political turbulence. We note with satisfaction UNIOGBIS’s efforts supporting the authorities in preparing the assembly.
We would like to draw special attention to the importance of combating transnational crime and drug trafficking in the region. The efforts that Mr. Fedotov spoke about deserve our full support. We would like to thank the Economic Community of West African States for promoting a political settlement of the political crisis in Guinea-Bissau.
At the same time, we believe that any agreements concerning the country’s future and its arrangements should be based on the aspirations of its citizens themselves, without any pressure or the imposition of ready-made solutions from the outside. Responding to truly national interests is the only way that they can play a positive role in the country’s ability to emerge from a prolonged crisis.
