September 27, 2002
Germany leads a group of five new members elected Friday to the United Nations Security Council, just as the German government has taken a leading position against possible military action against Iraq.
Spain, Pakistan, Chile and Angola will also join the 15-member Security Council, the U.N.'s highest decision-making body, for two- year terms beginning January 1, as the terms of Ireland, Norway, Colombia, Singapore and Mauritius expire.
German Ambassador to the U.N. Hanns Schumacher called the General Assembly's vote a "big mark of confidence in the Federal Republic" of Germany. U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. James Cunningham was among the first to congratulate Schumacher and offered assurances that the U.S. had supported Germany in the secret balloting for the Security Council spots. German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, in the week's leading up to his ruling coalition's narrow victory in Sunday's parliamentary election, declared his opposition to any German support - financial or military - for what he considers a U.S. "adventure" in Iraq.
U.S. President George W. Bush is seeking authorization by the U.S. Congress and the U.N. Security Council for a possible action to remove the regime of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. Bush is considering a move over Hussein's violation of U.N. resolutions requiring Iraq to forego all weapons of mass destruction.
Statements on U.S. policy toward Iraq by Schroeder and members of his government led to an unusually sharp diplomatic row with the Bush administration. The German position also annoyed many of its European Union partners, who were seeking to remain open-minded on the Iraq issue.
Bulgaria, Cameroon, Guinea, Mexico and Syria are in the midst of two-year Security Council terms that expire at the end of 2003. The United States, Russia, Britain, France and China are the five big- power permanent members with vetoes over council resolutions.
To win election to the Security Council, candidate nations must win two-thirds majority of the delegations present and voting from among 191 U.N. members. Among 183 nations voting on Friday in the General Assembly, Angola had 181 votes, Germany and Spain each had 180, Chile had 178 and Pakistan had 172. One nation cast voted for India.
This will be Germany's fourth term on the Security Council and the first since serving in 1995-96. A new head of the German mission to the U.N., yet to be named from Berlin, will serve as Security Council president in February.
Berlin, which already has one of the U.N.'s largest missions, plans to further expand its representation in New York. By the end of the year, Germany's U.N. political office alone will include 15 diplomats and two high-ranking military officers. dpa tb ff
FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Global Policy Forum distributes this material without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C íŸ 107. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
