Credit: onu.delegfrance.org /   France and Germany will consecutively chair the UN Security Council in March and April 2019.

By Gary Raynaldo   DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

France assumed the presidency of the UN Security Council for one month beginning  today March 1, 2019 with a unique arrangement with Germany to co-chair the coveted rotating diplomatically important seat. Next month, Germany will take over the presidency of the Security Council for a one-month period. To that end,  these two European countries have agreed to form a  sort of Franco-German multilateral alliance by jointly preparing the Security Council’s working agenda for the next 60 days.  The arrangement is quite unprecedented. It seeks to “re-galvanize” the Franco-German partnership in the framework of the United Nations. Ambassador François Delattre (France) will be President of the Security Council for the month of March, and Ambassador Christoph Heusgen (Germany), President  for the month of April. 

“According to the UN Charter, the chief responsibilities of the Security Council are peacekeeping and international security. As a permanent member, France has a special responsibility in those areas. At a time when the international community is facing multiples challenges, France intends to share with its partners an ambitious vision of the Security Council, which remains an invaluable tool for the peaceful resolution of disputes.”

Statement by the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs Spokesperson  (Paris, Mar. 1, 2019. 

Under the French presidency, the Security Council will continue to follow the situations in Syria, Yemen, Mali, and more broadly in the Sahel, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Haiti, and the question of the Western Sahara, according to the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs.

Paris And Berlin Join Forces On The UN Security Council to Promote Multilateralism

Credit: new-york-un.diplo.de / Permanent Mission of the Federal Republic of Germany to the United Nations – New York

“France and Germany are prepared to act in unison with other partners as the engine and hub for the network. To this end, Paris and Berlin will take advantage of Germany’s membership of the UN Security Council in 2019 and 2020 to work together on strengthening multilateralism. In particular, we will cooperate closely when we successively hold the Presidency of the UN Security Council in New York in March and April of this year.”  

Germany Foreign Minister Heiko Maas and France Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian joint statement.

The presidency of the Council is held by each of the members in turn for one month, following the English alphabetical order of the Member States names. France takes over the Presidency of the Security Council following Equatorial Guinea.