Minsk Supports Idea to Add More Asian, African, Latin American Nations to Security Council

Belarusian Foreign Minister Sergey Aleynik said that with three of the five permanent members representing the West, the Council currently does not reflect the present-day political realities

© Alexander Scherbak/TASS

UNITED NATIONS, September 24. /TASS/. Belarus supports the proposal to expand the UN Security Council by adding new permanent members from Asia, Africa and Latin America, Belarusian Foreign Minister Sergey Aleynik has told the UN General Assembly.

"Currently, it is imperative to expand the category of permanent membership by adding major developing nations from Asia, Africa and Latin America. It is gratifying to know that China and Russia are supporting this kind of reform of the Council, as they have declared on many occasions," he told the general political debate of the Assembly’s 78th session.

In his words, the remaining three members (the United Kingdom, the United States and France) need to "acknowledge the changes and agree to formally seal them."

Aleynik said that with three of the five permanent members representing the West, the Council currently does not reflect the present-day political realities. "They [these members] are not interested in changing the world’s status quo," he continued. "Therefore, and the Council does not fulfill its functions to support international peace and security as a result. Only a more representative and democratic body can cope with this task."

At present, the UN Security Council comprises five permanent members with veto powers - Russia, the United Kingdom, China, the United States and France. Also, the UN’s supreme decision-making body has ten non-permanent members, elected by the General Assembly for two-year terms and holding their seats on a rotating basis by geographic region.