Although Member States are still divided on how to move forward with Security Council reform, the majority of them consider the “improved framework document” prepared by the previous Chair as a good basis for text based negotiations and request the Chair to provide a detailed work program for the intergovernmental negotiations (IGN). However, some countries still think that, after more than 10 years, the situation is still not ripe for such a decisive step.
The President of the General Assembly, Mogens Lykketoft (PGA) convened GA debate on Security Council reform. The topic commands great interest, as reflected by the 60 statements made by the 60 countries, and all the negotiating groups (CARICOM, African States, L69, UfC, Arab States, G4 and Nordic Countries).
The President appointed H.E. Amb. Sylvie Lucas, Permanent Representative of Luxembourg as Chair of the IGN replacing H.E. Amb. Courtenay Rattray, Permanent Representative of Jamaica. The PGA called upon Member States to start narrowing down differences through text based negotiations. The new Chair promised a neutral and transparent procedure and requested the Member States to advance on the basis of the results achieved during the 69th session.
In his statement H.E. Amb. Zsolt Hetesy, Deputy Permanent Representative expressed the support of Hungary for the reform procedure and recognized the important work made by the outgoing Chair. He also stressed the importance of starting substantive negotiations based on an agreed work program. Through positive examples, the Hungarian statement also highlighted that Member States should continue to work on the improvement of the Security Council’s working methods and activities besides the IGN driven reform procedure.
Please find the full statement of Ambassador Hetesy here.
