Fix the UN, question Russia’s Security Council seat

The EPP Group calls for reform of the United Nations (UN) Security Council, limits on the use of veto powers, a stronger role of the UN General Assembly when the Security Council is paralysed, and a reassessment of Russia’s permanent seat on the Security Council.

"The UN Security Council must be reformed to better reflect today’s global reality. Veto must not be allowed to prevent UN action against war crimes and crimes against humanity. When the Security Council is unable to act, the UN General Assembly can help bridge the gap. We must make the United Nations more effective, efficient and better adapted to a changing world," said Andrey Kovatchev MEP, who drafted Parliament’s recommendation for the next UN General Assembly.

"Russia has lost its moral legitimacy as a permanent member of the Security Council by flagrantly breaching key principles of the UN Charter, in particular by waging a war of aggression against Ukraine, and by blocking, by means of its veto, decisions concerning its own illegal actions," reads the report, which will be adopted by the European Parliament later today. 

"Russia’s place as a permanent member of the UN Security Council must be questioned morally, politically and legally. Russia is not only waging an illegal war, committing atrocities and openly violating the UN Charter. There is also a legal problem: article 23 of the UN Charter names the Soviet Union, not Russia, as a permanent member. Russia simply took over the seat without a formal decision, with a unilateral declaration. This is based on tacit acceptance and political practice rather than on a clear legal decision," insists Kovatchev.

"Russia’s claim to the Soviet Union’s permanent seat on the UN Security Council was accepted in the chaos and euphoria that followed the collapse of the USSR. But this was never settled by a clear legal decision. Formally, Ukraine and Belarus had equal grounds to claim succession, as they signed the Belavezha Accords in December 1991 alongside Russia, while the other former Soviet republics also inherited rights and obligations from the USSR," underlines Sandra Kalniete MEP and EPP Group spokeswoman on Russia.

“Russia is now the greatest threat to international peace and security. It violently assaults the most basic principles of international law and undermines the UN system from within. It sabotages all peace efforts, fuels global insecurity and contributes to the energy crisis by supporting Iran’s attacks in the Gulf. Russia’s seat in the Security Council must be questioned whenever Moscow uses its veto to paralyse UN action,” Kalniete adds.