Brazil, Germany, India and Japan said Sunday they won't seek a vote on their plan for UN Security Council reform until the end of July while they negotiate with the 53-nation African Union.
The four countries' foreign ministers, meeting in New York with several African officials, acknowledged that they didn't have the necessary two-thirds support of the 191-member UN General Assembly without the Africans, who have their own plan for council change.
"It is not possible for any group to get a majority or two-thirds by itself," India's Foreign Minister Natwar Singh said. "So we have to find a way in which our differences are not only narrowed but they disappear."
The sides said they would negotiate over the next week and then meet again in Geneva on July 25 to discuss progress. They don't have much time, mostly because they hope to have a deal before a September summit of world leaders that will take place in New York.
In its current form, the 15-member council has five permanent members -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the US -- with veto power. Nations fill the other 10 seats in two-year rotating terms.
Most nations have agreed for years that the council is outdated, a reflection of the landscape of power from 1945, when the UN was formed. But each time they confront the issue, nations become embroiled in national rivalries -- India against Pakistan, China against Japan, Germany against Italy -- and progress stalls.
The negotiators are all working under shadows cast by the US and China, two permanent members of the current Security Council who have come out against the proposal. Both say the time isn't right for reform because the disagreements among nations are too great.
Member states get only one vote in the General Assembly, so US and Chinese support isn't necessary now. But several months or even years down the road, they have the power to block ratification of a deal to change the council.
Brazil, Germany, India and Japan, the so-called Group of Four, have proposed expanding the council from 15 to 25 members, adding six permanent seats without veto power and four non-permanent seats. Those four each want a permanent seat, with the other two earmarked for Africa.
They had clashed for months with a rival group called Uniting for Consensus, which doesn't want to create any new permanent members.
The African Union entered the fray just over a week ago as it announced its own plan for council reform, creating fears of a deadlock. The Africans had demanded two permanent seats with veto power -- something that the five current permanent members of the council will almost certainly never allow.
Both the Group of Four and African leaders said Sunday's meeting went well, though they acknowledged there was much work to be done. But they described their differences as more technical than anything else.
Nauru has started selling passports to fund climate action, but is so far struggling to attract new citizens to the low-lying, largely barren island in the Pacific Ocean. Nauru, one of the world’s smallest nations, has a novel plan to fund its fight against climate change by selling so-called “Golden Passports.” Selling for US$105,000 each, Nauru plans to drum up more than US$5 million in the first year of the “climate resilience citizenship” program. Almost six months after the scheme opened in February, Nauru has so far approved just six applications — covering two families and four individuals. Despite the slow start —
MOGAMI-CLASS FRIGATES: The deal is a ‘big step toward elevating national security cooperation with Australia, which is our special strategic partner,’ a Japanese official said Australia is to upgrade its navy with 11 Mogami-class frigates built by Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Australian Minister for Defence Richard Marles said yesterday. Billed as Japan’s biggest defense export deal since World War II, Australia is to pay US$6 billion over the next 10 years to acquire the fleet of stealth frigates. Australia is in the midst of a major military restructure, bolstering its navy with long-range firepower in an effort to deter China. It is striving to expand its fleet of major warships from 11 to 26 over the next decade. “This is clearly the biggest defense-industry agreement that has ever
DEADLY TASTE TEST: Erin Patterson tried to kill her estranged husband three times, police said in one of the major claims not heard during her initial trial Australia’s recently convicted mushroom murderer also tried to poison her husband with bolognese pasta and chicken korma curry, according to testimony aired yesterday after a suppression order lapsed. Home cook Erin Patterson was found guilty last month of murdering her husband’s parents and elderly aunt in 2023, lacing their beef Wellington lunch with lethal death cap mushrooms. A series of potentially damning allegations about Patterson’s behavior in the lead-up to the meal were withheld from the jury to give the mother-of-two a fair trial. Supreme Court Justice Christopher Beale yesterday rejected an application to keep these allegations secret. Patterson tried to kill her
MILITARY’S MAN: Myint Swe was diagnosed with neurological disorders and peripheral neuropathy disease, and had authorized another to perform his duties Myint Swe, who became Myanmar’s acting president under controversial circumstances after the military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi more than four years ago, died yesterday, the military said. He was 74. He died at a military hospital in the capital, Naypyidaw, in the morning, Myanmar’s military information office said in a statement. Myint Swe’s death came more than a year after he stopped carrying out his presidential duties after he was publicly reported to be ailing. His funeral is to be held at the state level, but the date had not been disclosed, a separate statement from the
RSS