November 18, 2022
Mr. President, at the outset let me express appreciation to you for convening this important debate.
I would also like to welcome the early appointment of Co-Chairs of the Inter-Governmental Negotiations, H.E. Mr. Michal Mlynar, Permanent Representative of Slovakia and H.E. Mr. Tareq Albanai, Permanent Representative of the State of Kuwait. I would like to wish them success and assure of my Delegation’s full support and cooperation.
At the same time, I would like to express our appreciation to previous co-chares of IGN, H.E. Ms. Alya Ahmed Saif Al-Thani, Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar and H.E. Mr. Martin Bille Hermann, Permanent Representative of Denmark, for their excellent work and tireless efforts in guiding the IGN process during the 76th session.
Mr. President, Dear colleagues,
The unfolding events throughout the year, have made it clear that the UNSC reform is vitally important as never before as it fails to live up to its raison d’être – the maintenance of international peace and security. Reform of the Security Council is particularly urgent when it comes to the use of Veto power. The failed attempts to pass UN Security Council resolutions to stop Russia’s aggression against Ukraine are a clear attestation to this.
We believe that the “veto” right shall be restricted when the decision of the UNSC aims to prevent the crimes against humanity, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and genocide. Therefore we fully support the “Political statement on the suspension of the veto in case of mass atrocities” presented by France and Mexico during the 70th session of the GA, and the “Code of Conduct regarding Security Council action against genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes” by the Accountability, Coherence and Transparency (ACT) Group.
We also firmly believe that “veto” right shall not be abused by a member, which is involved in the conflict under consideration and, therefore, cannot exercise its rights impartially. This is already enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, namely article 27, stating that in a series of specific important decisions “a party to a dispute shall abstain from voting.” The principles of the UN Charter must be upheld.
We also believe that the accountability of the Security Council to the General Assembly should be increased. In this regard we welcome the adoption of the UNGA Resolution 76/262 on a “Standing mandate for a General Assembly debate when a veto is cast in the Security Council” on April 26th, 2022.
Excellencies,
There is a shared agreement that the Security Council needs to be enlarged in order to be more representative of the current membership and reflective of the realities of the contemporary world.
Georgia has always supported the Security Council reform in terms of its equitable representation and enlargement. In particular, we have been supporting the expansion of both the permanent and non-permanent categories of membership, as it will increase the legitimacy, authority and credibility of the Council. Our particular priority has been the allocation of additional seats to the Eastern European Group, so that we have a better regional representation and parity in the Security Council. At the same time, we have been supporting the allocation of additional seats for the African group in line with the Ezulwini Consensus and Sirte Declaration.
We remain strong advocates for the inclusion of small states in the decision-making, in order for the basic principle of international law of sovereign equality to be reflected more explicitly at the core of the international security architecture.
In conclusion, let me reiterate our readiness to stay engaged to make significant progress in reforming the Security Council. It is now up to us to start producing results and the only way to do that is to start text-based negotiations.
I thank you.