Lithuania's statement at Informal meeting of the plenary of the UN GA on the intergovernmental negotiations on Security Council reform
Mr. Co-chairs, I would like to start by congratulating newly appointed co-chairs of the IGN on Security Council Reform, Ambassador Dr. Ion Jinga of Romania and Ambassador Mr. Mohammed Khaled Khiari of Tunisia, and wish them great success in driving this difficult topic forward. Lithuania is ready to continue its engagement in these negotiations in a constructive and result-orientated manner.
I would also like to commend the chairs of two previous sessions of IGN, Ambassador Courtenay Rattray of Jamaica and Ambassador Sylvie Lucas of Luxembourg, for their enormous efforts and perseverance, which produced two important documents, the Framework Document and the Elements of Convergence, that offer us a useful basis for a more focused way ahead, developing common grounds on the reform outcome.
As said in previous rounds of negotiations, Lithuania supports expanding both categories of membership – permanent and non-permanent, with all members of the same category enjoying the same rights and obligations. It is, nevertheless, important to emphasize that the increase in the membership should not hamper the effectiveness of the work of the Council. We remain worried, however, about the use of veto, and would like to underline our support for the veto restraint initiative as well as the initiative to establish a Code of Conduct regarding Security Council action against genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes. Restraining the veto use, inter alia, would make the Council’s responses to ongoing crises more effective by reducing situations where the Council is unable to act due to a veto-induced paralysis.
Furthermore, we believe that geographic balance should be ensured to reflect the composition of UN membership on the enlarged Council. Any potential enlargement should not diminish the chances of small states to be represented on the Council.
As a member of the Eastern European regional group, my delegation expects that this group will be ensured adequate representation in an expanded Security Council through the allocation of one additional non-permanent seat.
Mr. Co-chairs,
We all agree that UNSC must be reformed. The practice of past 20 years of going in circles, repeating again and again well-known positions, won’t lead us anywhere. A text-based negotiations could offer a viable way forward.
Allow me to conclude by wishing the Co-chairs success in their efforts to lead a results-oriented negotiation process and seek concrete progress for the sake of making the Security Council more legitimate, more transparent, more representative and more capable to respond to global challenges of today.
I thank you.
