Flag-map of Switzerland (Credit: Wikipedia)
By Gary Raynaldo DIPLOMATIC TIMES
UNITED NATIONS – NEW YORK – Switzerland was elected on Thursday to a seat on the UN Security Council during voting in the General Assembly. Five countries have been elected to serve as non-permanent members of the UN Security Council following a vote in the General Assembly. Ecuador, Japan, Malta, Mozambique and Switzerland will join the UN body responsible for the maintenance of global peace and security, beginning in January 2023. The President of the General Assembly, Abdulla Shahid, announced the results, and ambassadors applauded for each country after its name was read out. Switzerland received 187 votes on Thursday of the 192-member states participating.
The election represents “a very important day for Switzerland”, Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis, who holds the rotating Swiss presidency this year, said on Thursday. “Twenty years after our entry into the UN, we want to be part of the solution with our humanitarian tradition.”
Switzerland’s seat on the powerful Security Council is “a continuation of its engagement for peace and security within the UN and throughout the world”, the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs said. Since joining the UN in 2002, Switzerland has held key positions in all of the organisation’s major bodies except for the Security Council. The FDFA states that Switzerland is committed to a “just and peaceful international order”, the same goal as the UN Security Council, according to the FDFA. During its campaign for the Security Council seat, Switzerland stressed its role as a longstanding champion of international humanitarian law with the founding of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva in 1863; and its advocation of respect for human rights and protection of civilians in conflict.
During its term, Switzerland will use its strengths to promote peace and security and position itself as a neutral bridge-builder, and promote its interests through direct contact with the major players on the international stage, according to the FDFA.
“Switzerland’s priorities in the Council are sustainable peace, climate change, security and the protection of civilians,”
– Ignazio Cassis – President of Swiss Federation
(Photo by Gary Raynaldo / ©Diplomatic Times ) Ignazio Cassis, President of the Swiss Federation, makes comments to the press on Switzerland’s Election as Non-Permanent Member of the United Nations Security Council for a two-year term beginning on 1 January 2023 at UN world headquarters in New York June 9, 2022.
Last month, the Federal Council put forward four thematic priorities for Switzerland’s term on the Security Council. “Switzerland intends to represent its foreign policy values and interests in the Security Council. It seeks to build sustainable peace, protect civilians in armed conflict, address the impacts of climate change on security and improve the Council’s effectiveness. By serving on the Council, Switzerland will be able to fulfil its constitutional mandate to work for the long-term preservation of natural resources and a just and peaceful international order to even greater effect. Furthermore, it will be able to search for solutions between conflict parties and create added value for the international community.”
YOUTUBE VIDEO SWITZERLAND ELECTED TO SEAT ON UN SECURITY COUNCIL
Ignazio Cassis, Head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland
(Photo by Gary Raynaldo / ©Diplomatic Times ) Ignazio Cassis, President of the Swiss Federation, makes comments to the press on Switzerland’s Election as Non-Permanent Member of the United Nations Security Council for a two-year term beginning on 1 January 2023 at UN world headquarters in New York June 9, 2022.
(Photo by Gary Raynaldo / ©Diplomatic Times ) Ignazio Cassis, President of Swiss Federation, makes comments to the press on Switzerland’s Election as Non-Permanent Member of the United Nations Security Council for a two-year term beginning on 1 January 2023 at UN world headquarters in New York June 9, 2022.
