Azerbaijan, as chair of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), calls on France to apologize for the "bloody colonial crimes" and "acts of genocide" it committed "against NAM member countries in Africa, South-East Asia and other places," Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said during a speech at the NAM Contact Group summit in Baku on post-COVID recovery.
The Azerbaijani leader also argued that the French-administered territories outside of the European continent are "nasty remains of the French colonial empire."
Azerbaijan is the 2019-2023 chair of the Non-Aligned Movement, which was founded in 1961 and unites 120 states of the world, in addition to 17 other states with observer status, that have proclaimed non-participation in military-political blocs and groups as the basis of their foreign policy.
President Aliyev also proposed to expand the composition of the United Nations Security Council in favor of African states and the member countries of the Non-Aligned Movement within the framework of the potential reform of the UN body, which has been debated over the past years.
The Azerbaijani leader said his country supports the
"allocation of permanent seats" for the African continent and at least one permanent seat for the NAM organization at the UNSC.
Aliyev proposed that the country holding the post of chair of the NAM – which includes 53 African countries along with other member-states from Asia and South America – should have the movement's UNSC seat on a "rotating basis."
In this regard, he suggested that NAM members begin consultations on this issue and submit their views to the relevant UN Committee.
The Azerbaijani president stressed that at the present time, a "new world order is in the process of reshaping." Given the fact that the NAM is the second-largest grouping of countries in the world after the UN, Aliyev suggested that the international organization "should play a more visible and efficient role in the international arena and actively participate in reshaping the new world order."
On Wednesday, Mozambique's Permanent Representative at the UN, Ambassador Pedro Comissario Afonso, said during a press conference dedicated to his country's presidency in the UNSC this month that Africa should have two permanent seats and five non-permanent seats at the UN Security Council.
With regard to reforming the Security Council, Mozambique is guided by the fact that "
Africa is a victim of a historical injustice", and therefore Africa deserves two permanent seats on the UN Security Council and five non-permanent seats, Afonso said, adding that his country has been "fighting for that."
Africa, which is home to 54 member states of the UN, is represented at the Security Council by three non-permanent seats, currently filled by Ghana, Gabon, and Mozambique. Over the past few decades, African Union officials have been calling for a more representative and democratic council, where Africa, like other regions, would be represented by two permanent states, along with an additional two non-permanent seats.
In 2005, the AU adopted the Ezulwini Consensus, a position on international relations and reform of the United Nations. The AU's ongoing efforts for the continent's permanent UNSC representation have begun to yield fruits in recent years, with Russia and the United States, who are both UNSC permanent members, supporting the African position.