80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly
Agenda Item 122 “Question of equitable representation on and increase in the membership of the Security Council and other matters related to the Security Council”
Statement delivered by Ms. Kaisa Hanna Parel, Third Secretary, Permanent Mission of Estonia to the UN
18 November 2025, New York
President,
I thank the Permanent Representatives of Austria and Kuwait for leading the intergovernmental negotiations on the Security Council reform during the previous session of the General Assembly and look forward to working closely with Ambassador Albanai of Kuwait and Ambassador Gregoire-van Haaren of the Netherlands during this session.
President,
In 2024, by adopting the Pact for the Future, the leaders of the world agreed here in New York to strengthen efforts in the framework of the IGN on Security Council Reform as a matter of priority and without delay. This urgency has not lost its relevance. Quite the opposite. As the Security Council is too often failing to act due to geopolitical ambitions of the key players and misuse of the veto, the reform of the Council is of central importance for the Council to be able to fulfil its core function of maintaining international peace and security.
We, therefore, need to build on the progress made on the Security Council reform during the past sessions with renewed energy and determination.
President,
Estonia supports continuing the IGN process without delay through the structured dialogues on individual models presented by Member States and Groups of States. We welcome the submission of further models, including by P5 members, as well as the revision of existing models. These discussions serve an important role in developing a consolidated model, which we are hopeful to see by the end of the current IGN cycle. Progress achieved would help us move directly to the text-based negotiations.
As for the substance of the reform, Estonia advocates for a Security Council composition that adequately reflects the current world, with a fair distribution between continents and regions. We are also open to continue discussions on representations of cross-regional groups, such as Small Island Developing States. Estonia supports the expansion of the Council membership so that it would include countries that have, inter alia, demonstrated their unwavering commitment to international law and the principles of the UN Charter, and have consistently acted in accordance with these principles.
Next, we need to find a way to restrict the use – or rather abuse – of the veto, that has been the biggest cause of the Security Council’s inaction and loss of credibility. There should be no veto right in the cases of massive violations of international law, genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. Estonia supports the French-Mexican initiative on veto restraint and the Code of Conduct by the Accountability, Coherence and Transparency group on not voting against resolutions aimed at ending mass atrocities, including the crime of aggression. We call on all Council members to ensure the full and consistent implementation of Article 27 (3) of the Charter that demands that a party to the dispute abstains from voting.
Last but not least, Estonia supports further strengthening the role of the General Assembly in matters of international peace and security, especially in situations where the Council itself is unable to uphold international law and the principles of the Charter. In these situations, the Assembly should be able to collectively overcome the veto. We see both, the Uniting for Peace Resolution and the Veto Initiative providing frameworks for the Assembly to step up and make concrete recommendations for Member States and the Council for action.
President,
The main goal of our reform endeavours should be a just and strengthened multilateral world order based on international law, with the UN and the UN Charter at its core. We should use this moment to collectively reinforce the political relevance of the United Nations Organisation.
I thank you.