Saudi Arabia:
“Allowing the ruling regime in Syria to kill its people and burn
them with chemical weapons in front of the entire world and without any
deterrent or punishment is clear proof and evidence of the UN Security
Council’s inability to perform its duties,”
King of
Saudi Arabia, Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al
Saud, Boston Globe October 27, 2013
A day
after winning the highly coveted UN Security Council seat in 2013, Saudi Arabia
stunned the diplomatic world by becoming the first country to reject the seat,
as a mark of protest.
South Africa:
“South Africa Challenges the UN membership to celebrate the 70th
anniversary of the United Nations in 2015, with a reformed, more inclusive,
democratic and representative UN Security Council”.
Maite Nkoana –
Mashabane, International Relations Minister. Mail & Guardian 8thOctober
2013.
Qatar:
The Qatari foreign minister Khalid Al Attiya thanked his Saudi
counterpart Saud al Faisal for rejecting a seat at the U.N. Security Council,
blaming the diplomatic body for failing in its responsibility towards the Arab
world.
Al
Arabiya, 21 October 2013.
France:
“We have an ongoing dialogue on the subject of Syria with Saudi
Arabia. We share its frustration after the Security Council’s paralysis,”
French foreign ministry spokesman Romain Nadal said, noting that France is
proposing reforms to the council’s veto rights.
Al
Arabiya, 19 October 2013.
Gulf Cooperation Council:
The secretary-general of the Gulf Cooperation Council - comprising
wealthy members Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab
Emirates - called for “fundamental reform” of the Security Council. The UAE’s
foreign minister spoke of “a historic responsibility to review the council’s
role, its powers and its charter.”
Al
Arabiya, 6 January 2014.
India:
"The
process of bringing about UNSC reforms cannot be seen to be an exercise ad
infinitum. A results-based timeline is imperative, and those who ask for not
imposing artificial timelines may be advised to desist from inflicting
artificial delays on this process,"
India's Ambassador to
the UN Asoke Kumar Mukerji, First Post, 22November 2013.
United
States of America:
“The just and sustainable
international order that America seeks includes a United Nations that is
efficient, effective, credible and legitimate. That is why I can say today, in
the years ahead, I look forward to a reformed United Nations Security
Council…..which recognize the rights and responsibilities of all nations and
all individuals.”
President Barack Obama,
Joint Session of the Parliament of India, 9 November 2010.
United
Kingdom:
“The UN
has no greater friend than the UK, but it does not adequately reflect the world
we live in today… The Security Council must be reformed……unless more room is
made at the top table it will become an anachronism – a relic of a different
times”.
Nick
Clegg - Deputy UK Prime Minister UNGA, 27/09/13.
Russia:
“The UN must rationally adapt itself to new world realities. It
should also strengthen its influence and preserve its multinational nature and
integrity of the UN Charter provisions. The reform of the UN Security Council
is an essential component of its revitalization. The time has come to speed up
the search for a compromise formula of its expansion and increased efficiency
of its work”.
Then
Russian President Dimitry Medvedev – UNGA, 23 September 2009.
Brazil:
“The
United Nations has spent 15 years discussing the reform of its Security
Council. Today’s structure has been frozen for six decades and does not relate
to the challenges of today’s world. Its distorted form of representation stands
between us and the multilateral world to which we aspire. Therefore I am much
encouraged by the General Assembly’s decision to launch negotiations in the
near future on the reform of the Security Council.”
Then President of Brazil -
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, UNGA, 23 September 2008
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