ALMATY (Sputnik) – Kazakhstan, which is currently a temporary member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), stands for a reform of this institution by expanding its quantitative and qualitative composition, the country's Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov said.
"Kazakhstan calls for a systematic and comprehensive approach to reforming the Security Council, which consists of an expansion of the quantitative and qualitative composition of the council, improving its working methods, as well as strengthening the relationship between the General Assembly and the Security Council. It would allow us to improve the transparency of the Security Council's work, increase the efficiency of its decisions based on the interests and aspirations of the international regions concerned," Abdrakhmanov said in an interview with the Kazakhstanskaya Pravda newspaper published on Thursday.
"We are pleased to note that, despite the complexity of the alignment of our different positions, there is a common understanding that, no matter what the new configuration of the Security Council will be, it must work actively and efficiently, carrying out the tasks entrusted to it by the UN Charter and carrying the main responsibility for international peace and security," Abdrakhmanov stressed.
He added that the reform should be carried out on the basis of consensus and should meet the requirements of all UN member states.
"At the same time, you can not hide the fact that the decisive progress in the negotiations on the reform of the UN Security Council and the United Nations as a whole depends on the interests of the five permanent UNSC members, for whom it is important to keep the initiative in their hands," the foreign minister said.
He also stressed that Kazakhstan supported the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, "who consistently pursues reforms aimed at improving the organization's effectiveness" in the field of management, development, and the building of peace and security.
The UNSC has five permanent members — China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States — all of which have veto power, while there are 10 non-permanent members. However, politicians from a number of countries, such as Germany, India and South Africa, have repeatedly called for reform of the institution that has not changed since 1945, in order to reflect changes in world order and realities.
