79th 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 H.E. Rein Tammsaar, Permanent Representative of Estonia
11 November 2024, New York
President,
I thank the Permanent Representatives of Austria and Kuwait for firmly leading the intergovernmental negotiations on the Security Council reform during the previous session of the General Assembly and look forward to working closely with them during this session.
President,
The Security Council should bear the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, as stated clearly in the UN Charter. To achieve this, we need a fit-for-purpose, transparent, open and accountable Security Council with a strengthened decision-making capacity.
During the last session of the GA, we made ambitious and concrete progress on Security Council reform. In the Pact for the Future, adopted by our leaders, we agreed to strengthen efforts in the framework of the IGN on Security Council Reform as a matter of priority and without delay.
We now need to urgently build on the progress achieved:
In addition to the discussions on five clusters, Estonia is very much in favour of structured dialogues on individual models presented by Member States and Groups of States. These valuable discussions deepen our understanding of each other´s positions and help to identify common ground. Therefore, we welcome submission of further models, including by P5 members, as well as the revision of existing models.
We welcome the co-chairs’ timeline proposal in order to continue these discussions without delay, with a view to developing a consolidated model, preferably already by the end of the current IGN cycle, based on convergences on the five clusters, and the models presented by Member States, as prescribed in the Pact for the Future.
We also call for fully implementing Action 41 of the Pact for the future, namely: improving the working methods of the Council; strengthening its relationship with the GA; fully implementing and adhering to all provisions of the Charter, including Article 27 (3) of the Charter; support credible, timely and decisive action by the Council to prevent or end the commission of genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes.
Last but not least, as contained in Action 39 (g) of the Pact for the Future, we would also need to intensify our efforts to reach an agreement on the future of the veto, including by advancing discussions on limiting its scope and use.
President,
The main goal of our reform endeavours should be a just and strengthened multilateral world order based on international law, with UN and the UN Charter at its core. We should use the momentum to collectively reinforce the political relevance of the United Nations Organisation indeed.
Thank you!