Poland in UN Security Council

On 1 January the date of joining Poland in UN will be appointed as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. One of the most renowned political organizations in the world will open its door to Poland as well as four other new members: Côte d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Kuwait and Peru. The new non-permanent members of the Security Council will serve two-year terms.

The Security Council is a UN body that deals with matters of international peace and security. After Poland in UN, the total number of UN member states is 193, the Security Council consists of 15 members. 10 of them non-permanent members of the Council, elected through secret vote of the General Assembly for two-year terms. To pass a vote, two-thirds of the body need to be in favor. The non-permanent states belong to one of four groups: African and Asian States, Eastern European States, Latin American and Caribbean States, and Western European and other States.

Witold Właszczykowski, Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs, expressed an opinion that the country’s presence in the UN Security Council will make it more recognizable and positively affect the state’s relations with other countries. Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydło said this is “one more move in a good direction”. This is not the first time that Poland has been elected as a member of the Security Council. However, the last time this happened was twenty years ago, in the years 1996-97.

The 5 permanent Council members are China, France, Russia, the UK, and the USA. Each Security Council state owns one vote. As a non-permanent member, Poland will have no power of veto. Each state member of the Security Council appoints a representative to the body residing in New York (UN Headquarters). The name of the Polish representative has not been announced yet.

The UN Security Council is one of six bodies of the United Nations. It was created in 1946.