Credit:  Credit: reddit.com / Norway flag and coat of arms.

By Gary Raynaldo          DIPLOMATIC TIMES

UNITED  NATIONS  –  NEW  YORK  – Norway remains engaged in its campaign for a seat on the powerful UN Security Council.   However,  Norway’s Ambassador to the UN says she and her  team’s priority remains focused on  the international response to the global COVID-19 pandemic.  “This is a time of great uncertainty and disruption. Our first priority has been to have all hands on deck to work for a coordinated international effort to tackle this urgent health crisis, in the spirit of multilateralism. The pandemic has obviously changed our campaign and the working methods of the entire Foreign Service. This has not been the time to focus on traditional campaigning,”   said Mona Juul, Norway’s Ambassador to the UN.      All eyes are on the upcoming election for two vacant  U.N. Security Council  non-member seats for the period 2021-2022. The election is scheduled for June 17, 2020.  NORWAY, IRELAND and CANADA are competing  for one of the two open seats. 

“Norway’s candidacy for a seat in the Security Council is as strong as ever, and we remain very much engaged in our campaign.”

-Mona Juul, Norway’s Ambassador to the UN 

Credit:   norway.no/en/missions/     Mona Juul,   Norway’s Ambassador to the United Nations

Meanwhile,  the Canadian ambassador to the United Nations, Marc-André Blanchard, told a Canadian newspaper in March “now is not the time to campaign for a Security Council seat,”  as world diplomacy has been upended amid the global covid pandemic.

United Nations Security Council chambers at UN world headquarters in New York, NY.

But truth be told, the seat around a horseshoe-shaped at the UN Security Council table sits in the most important room in the world.  The Security Council Chamber is where the U.N.’s most powerful body gathers. The U.N. Security Council is the ultimate global body tasked with maintaining international peace and security.  The Council can dispatch peacekeeping forces, impose economic embargoes, arms embargoes, and ultimately opt for collective military action.  It is no wonder why the competition for an open seat becomes fierce among member states. It is a diplomatic prize.  The non-permanent seats are divided between regional groups: three seats for the  African Group; two for the  Asia-Pacific Group; two  for the  Latin American and Caribbean Group; two for the  Western European and Others Group: and one for the Eastern European Group.   The  Western European and Others Group is currently in the spotlight at the moment with three candidates, Norway,  Canada, and Ireland, competing for these seats left vacant by  Belgium and German at the  end of the year. The seats can not remain empty and will be filled despite the covid pandemic. 

 COVID-19 Vaccine Should Be Available to Everyone Including low-income countries:  Norway

Norway’s candidature for a seat in the Security Council is motivated by the country’s desire to defend the multilateral system and the rules-based multilateral order.  COVID-19 has been placed in the global spotlight this  year.    “But the consistency in our foreign policy, development cooperation and commitment to the UN are the same. Global health has been a priority for Norway for the past two decades, ” Norway ambassador Juul said. “Norway’s response to the crisis illustrates this.  As a founding member and major donor to CEPI, Norway has just committed 200 million dollars to the search for a Covid-19 vaccine. ”  The ambassador said a vaccine It should be available to everyone and rapidly and fairly distributed, including to vulnerable groups and low-income countries. “We have also increased our support to the WHO and the UN Humanitarian Response. And we have taken the initiative to a new UN fund that will assist countries in recovering from this crisis as well as focus on the long-term development perspective. This shows what kind of UN member state Norway is, has been, and will continue to be as a member of the Security Council. Global solidarity is our only option.”

“Multilateralism is at the heart of Norway’s foreign policy, as well as in our campaign”  

Credit: UN Photo / Manuel Elias  /   Mona Juul, Permanent Representative of Norway to the United Nations and seventy-fifth President of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) 25 July 2019 

” Right now, there is a lot of important work to be done by all Member States on immediate COVID-19 response. We must ensure that the UN continues it’s vital work and to operate in this difficult climate in an open and transparent way.  Right now, there is a lot of important work to be done by all Member States on immediate COVID-19 response. We must ensure that the UN continues it’s vital work and to operate in this difficult climate in an open and transparent way.  Norway has always been a strong supporter of transparency and accountability in the work of the Security Council.”

-Mona Juul, Permanent Representative of Norway to UN

U.N. Security Council Chamber Still Most Important Room In The World Maintains ‘Norwegian Identity’

Credit: Norway Permanent Mission to the United States in New York.com /  UN Security Council Chamber was fully renovated in April 2013. Photo by: Martin Lerberg Fossum / NorwayMFA. 

Architects Of Security Council Chamber Wanted To Maintain  The  Room As Politically Neutral Space

Since its inauguration in August 1952,  the Security Council  chamber has maintained a certain “Norwegian Identity.”   The Security Council Chamber of the United Nations was designed entirely by Norwegian artists and designers.  The revered Security Council chambers was donated by Norway as a “gift” to the U.N. The chambers itself was designed by Norwegian artist Arnstein Arneberg.  A large mural by Per Krohg (Norway), symbolizing the promise of future peace and individual freedom, covers most of the east wall.  In fact, most of the Security Council’s furnishings have a Norwegian touch as they are from Norway.  Although Norway does not have a permanent seat in the UN’s Security Council, the Scandinavian nation’s ‘presence’ looms larger than life in the room, as its chairs and other  interior furnishings are all Norwegian. 

Large mural by artist Per Krohg (Norway), symbolizing the promise of future peace and individual freedom Is Center Piece of Security Council Chambers 

Credit: Wikipedia Public Domain /  Oil canvas mural painted by Norwegian artist Per Krohg hangs in U.N. Security Council Chambers depicts a phoenix rising from ashes of World War II.

 Norway was commissioned as the  designer of the Security Council Chamber as a known Scandinavian nation known the world over for its political neutrality

Credit: norway permanent mission UN /  The draperies and wall coverings of  Security Council Chamber were designed by  Norwegian painter and textile artist  Else Poulsson, showing the anchor of faith, the growing wheat of hope and the heart of charity. Photo: Martin Leberg Fossum / NorwayMFA/