SLOVAK Foreign Affairs Minister Eduard Kukan says it appears the plan to reform the UN Security Council is currently on hold, according to the SITA news agency.
The Slovak Republic started its tenure as an elected member of the council on January 1, 2006.
Kukan restated that proposals to make the council more effective or to increase the number of its members are not garnering enough support. Slovakia would like the UN Security Council to better reflect the current global geopolitical situation.
He suggests, for example, that there should be more permanent and non-permanent members, though not more than 25 so as to retain the council’s flexibility.
The main reason to the halt on reform to the UN Security Council is that the five permanent members do not want new members to have the right of veto.
Kukan also stated that Slovakia is currently chairing the UN Security Council committee dealing with the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and that the country is active in other UN Security Council advisory bodies.
According to the minister, Slovakia wants to participate in finding solutions to pressing issues in Africa. He said that in the great lakes area in Africa four million people died last year as a result of disease and conflicts. He sees the African countries' main problems as the high level of corruption and the lack of accountability of African state representatives.
Slovakia proposes that African countries themselves and the wider international community be more involved in solving problems on the continent.
Compiled by Beata Balogová from press reports
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