Mr. President,
It is time for a new momentum and a new effort to reform the Security Council, its composition, size and working methods. We need a Council that better reflects today’s realities with working methods that are transparent and open. We need more general trust in the UN system, and a Security Council that offers a sense of inclusiveness and belonging to all of us, whoever we are and wherever we live. It should be obvious that the regions of Africa, Asia and Latin America have to be better represented. And all countries should have a fair chance to serve on the Council from time to time. For the UN to be relevant on issues of security, we need a Security Council that not only enjoys the respect of member states and their populations. We also need a Council that is perceived as fair and legitimate.
As new threats and challenges appear, the United Nations has to adapt. We want to see a United Nations that is relevant, legitimate, effective and capable of dealing with the emerging threats to our common security.
Reform of the Security Council is in our view long overdue, and the consultations on this issue that we have seen so far have not delivered any substantial results. We now need to start result-oriented intergovernmental negotiations to bring the process forward.
As previously stated, Sweden is open to the idea of an enlargement of the Security Council in both the permanent and non-permanent category. However, we should seek the broadest possible agreement. This is necessary for the Council to be perceived as legitimate and to avoid new divisions and frustrations that could harm our work in the United Nations for a long time to come.
We also wish to repeat that the Security Council must be an effective body able to act swiftly when needed. We, therefore strongly believe that the veto power should not be extended. Instead, we would like to see a veto free culture be promoted in the Council.
In our view any reform should be the subject of a recurrent and effective review mechanism. A decision to accept new permanent members on the Council should, in our view, not be easy to change. But we should avoid decisions which are irreversible for all time to come. We also need to be able to open up for further changes in the future. As the world changes, the Security Council has to be able to change.
If we are not ready to agree on such a more long-term reform, one possibility could be to look at an interim or transitional solution that could eventually lead to a more permanent arrangement.
Moreover, as we have stated before, we believe that the Security Council’s working methods should be made more open and transparent. We would like to see this issue advanced further, even without immediate agreement on the composition of the Council.
As we enter the intergovernmental negotiations, we all need to be creative, have an open mind and show flexibility. For its part, Sweden is ready to discuss new ideas and will continue to engage actively in a constructive dialogue on how to reform the Security Council.
I thank you Mr. President.