United Nations General Assembly: Item 124 - Strengthening of the United Nations system

Mr President,

Thank you for giving me the floor. I have the honor to speak on behalf of the three Benelux countries: Belgium, the Netherlands, and my own country, Luxembourg.

The Benelux countries are proud to have cosponsored the resolution, which has just been adopted by consensus and which establishes a standing mandate for this General Assembly to hold a debate when a veto is cast in the Security Council.

We thank Liechtenstein for their leadership on this important resolution. Today’s adoption comes after more than two years of preparation and very wide consultations among Member States. We welcome the fact that, as a result, the resolution enjoys very broad cross-regional support.

The resolution we have adopted makes clear that its provisions are without prejudice to the Intergovernmental Negotiations on Security Council reform. The aim indeed is not to reform the Security Council, but to strengthen the role of the General Assembly by establishing a mechanism for this Assembly to convene within ten working days of the casting of a veto by one or more permanent members of the Security Council and to hold a debate on the situation as to which the veto was cast, provided that the Assembly does not meet in an Emergency Special Session on the same situation.

At this critical juncture for the United Nations, this resolution sends an important signal in support of multilateralism. The use of the veto has increased significantly over the past years, preventing the Security Council from discharging its mandate effectively and maintaining international peace and security. Recent examples include the veto cast at the end of last year, on 13 December 2021, which prevented the adoption by the Security Council of a resolution addressing the crucial link between climate and security, which was supported by a broad majority of Member States. This increased use of the veto has far-reaching consequences for the work and the effectiveness of the Security Council and the UN as a whole.

The Charter of the United Nations is very clear. Let me quote Article 24.1.: “In order to ensure prompt and effective action by the United Nations, its Members confer on the Security Council primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, and agree that in carrying out its duties under this responsibility the Security Council acts on their behalf”.

The Security Council acts on behalf of all Members States of the UN. In this spirit, it makes perfect sense for us, the Member States, to hold a debate in the General Assembly whenever the use of the veto by one or more permanent members of the Security Council has made prompt and effective action by the UN impossible.

The use of the veto is not a privilege, but a heavy responsibility. The resolution we have just adopted is a crucial step to strengthen multilateralism by making the permanent members of the Security Council more accountable to the general membership when they use the veto to block the adoption of a Security Council resolution. It is a crucial step forward for accountability and transparency and we are glad that we have been able to make this step today with the support of so many Member States.

I thank you.