NEW YORK, FEBRUARY 2 – A “hard dose of realism” for all the parties involved is needed for a Security Council reform to be achieved “in the near future”. This is the appeal launched by the Permanent Representative of Italy to the UN, Ambassador Maurizio Massari, during an all-round interview to the online newspaper La Voce di New York. “The solution we propose, which is always open to change, reflects this hard dose of realism”, explained Massari: “The idea of proposing new permanent members accountable to themselves only (not being periodically elected) would only increase the paralysis of the main governing body of the UN, especially in view of the Russian blockade of a resolution on Ukraine thanks to its veto power rights.
In New York, the Ambassador coordinates the Uniting for Consensus group, which includes a large group of influential and relevant medium-sized powers, such as Canada, Pakistan, Turkey, Argentina, and has been fighting for years for a SC reform based on effectiveness, transparency, democracy and accountability: “We give everyone the chance to join the Security Council, proposing an enlargement to the category of non-permanent members and also taking into account the possibility of longer-term seats based on democratic elections. Instead of sitting for two years, States are allowed to 4 years-terms, and there is also the possibility of being re-elected and serve up to 8 years. This way everyone will sooner or later have the opportunity to join. Being subject to democratic elections by the General Assembly, States would also have a responsibility to report to the entire membership”, said the Italian Ambassador.
UfC does not demand seats for the members of the Group, but seeks to enlarge the overall number of seats, from 15 to 26, focusing on under-represented regions: Africa, Asia, Latin America, small island states, while only one more seat would be guaranteed to the Western group. The West, as the Ambassador always stresses during debates, is already widely represented in the Security Council. “We have three countries – the US, France and Great Britain – that are members of the G7 and that are members of the P5 (SC permanent members). Is the objective to unbalance the Security Council even more, or is it to rebalance it geographically? If the objective is to rebalance it, our approach must be rewarded”.
Massari denied the opinion according to which Uniting for Consensus and Italy have contributed to the stalemate of the negotiations for the reform. “If anything, the opposite is true: in recent decades, the Group has developed and built a reform project, characterised by flexibility from all the viewpoints, including possible solutions, and has proposed a model that is open to discussion which, if looking carefully, is the only realistic landing zone” of this protracted negotiation.
“We want a reform and we want it now“, added the Ambassador during the interview with Stefano Vaccara, when he also touched on issues such as the crises in Ukraine and Libya, the environment and women’s rights : “We want a reform now and therefore we propose a realistic solution. It could be finalised, even tomorrow, if there was any willingness. On the other hand, those who propose maximalist solutions for the self-promotion of their own interests, are the ones who cause the stalemate, because they continue to support not achievable maximalist positions”. (@OnuItalia)
