In a congratulatory statement released Friday afternoon, the Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis said the Governments and people of the region are “heartened that St. Vincent and the Grenadines has secured a seat on the Council at this crucial moment in time when the maintenance of international peace and security has never been more essential, particularly in light of the political crisis that confronts Venezuela, our next-door neighbour.”
The CARICOM Chairman added: “We in the CARICOM grouping are even more confident now that disputes there and elsewhere will be settled by peaceful means, as St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ vital voice and vote will be a strong champion, in accordance with CARICOM’s guiding principles of non-interference and non-intervention in the affairs of states, respect for sovereignty, adherence to the rule of law, and respect for constitutional order and democracy.”
The 193 states of the United Nations General Assembly elected five new members to the Security Council today, Friday, June 7th, 2019. The other four countries that have been elected to the U.N.’s most powerful body are Estonia, Niger, Tunisia and Vietnam.
The 15-member United Nations Security Council has five permanent members: China, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States. Ten non-permanent members are elected for staggered, two-year terms by the General Assembly.
The five new members elected today join five other non-permanent members. The two-year terms of Belgium, the Dominican Republic, Germany, Indonesia and South Africa will end in 2020.
The five new members have replaced Côte d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Kuwait, Peru and Poland, which were all elected on June 2nd, 2017. They were elected in accordance with the following pattern: two seats for the African and Asia-Pacific States, one seat for the Latin American and Caribbean States, and two seats for the Western European and Other States.
All new Council members will take their seats on January 1st, 2020.
