The delegates of United Kingdom and United States of America made an official statement this sunday, where they expressed disappointment about not being included enough in the negotiation process. First group of countries that recognized themselves in this statement was G4 and African group, who made official response yesterday. Second group that was really involved in the process of creating potential draft resolution was Uniting for Consensus group, however they did not respond to the statement till last night when our editorial received their answer.
In their official response they emphasized that their intention was not to exclude other countries from process of creating working paper, but to establish and consolidate their own common position first. They explained that their fair and open intentions can be noticed since they 'immediately invited all distinguished representatives of permanent members of the Security Council to discuss our working paper, after it was accepted.'
Uniting for Consensus group explained further that they already included some of the previously discussed positions in the current working paper. "We did not strictly follow our initial positions, but adapted our new proposal to the suggestions of other states," they wanted to make it clear.
In the second part, they wanted to make sure that other delegations understand their readiness for cooperation and compromise. Since they are the only group that does not support the idea of new permanent members, they introduced a new category of long-term non-permanent members of Security Council. According to UfC this shows their clear intentions to reach a compromise.
Lastly, they wanted to express regret because some of the countries are not sharing such flexibility of positions and are not as open to negotiations as they are. However, UfC did not want to mention to any names of these countries. They share the position of P5 group that any reform should be adopted with consensus. In this light, it looks like that Security Council is still far from being accepted because some countries are not willing to modify their positions and some of them will only accept the proposals with total support in the General Assembly.
Luka Kavčič
Bellow you can read the whole official response by UfC:
OFFICIAL RESPONSE OF THE UNITING FOR CONSENSUS GROUP TO THE US AND UK STATEMENT ON SECURITY COUNCIL REFORM NEGOTIATIONS
Uniting for Consensus group would like to respond to the statement made by the United States and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland regarding the negotiations on the Security Council reform.
We definitely did not try to exclude permanent members of the Security Council from negotiations. Our purpose was to firstly form our official position and turn it into working paper. After our working paper was accepted, we immediately invited all distinguished representatives of permanent members of the Security Council to discuss our working paper. Furthermore, some of the positions were already previously included in the document. We have shown our flexibility again - we did not strictly follow our initial positions, but adapted our new proposal to the suggestions of other states. Our official position is well known, we are the only group that is opposing any expansion of permanent membership, and group that supports adding new non-permanent members with two-year mandate. With introduction of new category of long-term seats (five-year mandate with possibility of one immediate reelection) we wanted to make a compromise with all those states, who want to increase number of permanent seats in order to gain more influence and make the Security Council more representative. We are very disappointed that some states are not prepared to negotiate or change their positions. Last but not least, we believe a legitimate reform should be adopted with consensus. A reform, which will be adopted by less than consensus, is not an appropriate reform. Uniting for Consensus is calling for a consensus before any decision is reached on the form and size of the Security Council.
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