Washington DC, May 8: Five nations have secured non-permanent member seats in the United Nations security council (UNSC) after the United Nations general assembly on Friday conducted a secret ballot.
According to ANI news reports, the five countries who have secured to be part of UNSC are Vietnam, Tunisia, Niger, Estonia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines – the smallest country ever to be nominated for a seat in the UNSC.
In an official statement, the UN said the five states would assume their non-permanent seats of the UNSC in January 2020, while replacing Poland, Peru, Kuwait, Equatorial Guinea, and Cote d’Ivoire.
Every year, the UN elects five nations to the 15-member UNSC (10 of whom are non-permanent members) for maximum a two-year term, as per a geographical roration scheme set in 1963 by the assembly, in order to ensure fair regional representations, five from Pacific, Asian and African states, two from Latin American states, two from Western European, one from Eastern Europe, and other states (WEOG).
While Vietnam, Tunisia, and Niger were elected totally unopposed, the other two were contested. El Salvador has competed with Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to represent the Caribbean and Latin American group, and Estonia in the East European group defeated Romania.