Statement by Chargé d’Affaires a.i. Anna Evstigneeva at the GA Meeting on the Question of Equitable Representation on and Increase in the Membership of the Security Council and Other Matters Related to the Security Council
Madam President,
We note your introduction of the draft oral decision on transferring consideration of the issue of Security Council reform to the eighty-first session of the General Assembly. It is a traditionally technical document. Its key element is the reaffirmation of support for the format of the Intergovernmental Negotiations (IGN), which remains a unique platform for discussing all aspects of reform in accordance with General Assembly decision 62/557.
In order to continue the step-by-step work within the framework of the IGN, Russia is prepared to support the draft as it was presented. At the same time, we would like to make a number of important reservations regarding the revised co-chairs’ elements, which are referred to in the draft decision.
We understand what a difficult and delicate task it is for the co-chairs to revise this document every year, as it is supposed to reflect their vision of where the positions of Member States converge and diverge on various reform “clusters”. We also understand what pressure they have to withstand given the attempts by many States to achieve progress in advancing particular parameters, even though such progress may not reflect the actual sentiment among participants.
However, let us be frank: the line of work towards accommodating the interests of certain States or groups of States by presenting wishful thinking as reality is an extremely dangerous practice. It could undermine the IGN format and, consequently, the prospects for turning the Security Council reform into reality.
In particular, we note that this year the co-chairs included in the revised annual text a definition of Eastern Europe as an underrepresented region on the Security Council, with this assertion being presented as a unifying element, which is allegedly agreed upon by all participants in the IGN. But this assertion flagrantly contradicts the course of discussions during the current session. The complimentary assessments of the “Pact for the Future” contained in the text are likewise inappropriate.
Together with the overwhelming majority of other delegations, Russia has consistently advocated for the reform to result in greater representation of developing countries in the body. However, we regularly point out that the UN will be inevitably pushed further back to the colonial past if there is simultaneous inclusion in the Security Council of developed countries, so-called countries with economies in transition and, particularly, those among them that adhere to the bloc-based approaches of NATO and the European Union. Such a scenario would not bring about any qualitative change in the work of the Security Council: Western countries would continue to take advantage of their numerical advantage, rubber-stamping decisions that serve their interests, without any regard for the opinions of other Member States. Such a trajectory would render the reform process entirely meaningless.
In this regard, we are compelled to recall that the co-chairs’ text is the property of the authors themselves rather than an objective reflection of the course of the negotiations. We expect the necessary amendments to the document to be made following the work of the eighty-first session, so that it becomes more balanced in nature.
For its part, Russia stands ready to continue working with other Member States towards preparing a comprehensive reform proposal that would enjoy broad support from the participants in the IGN. Ideally, such an important decision should subsequently be adopted by consensus.
Thank you.
