Five states to change in UN Security Council on January 1

It is noted that 15 countries always sit in the UN Security Council, five of them are permanent members, and ten are temporary.

Russia, the USA, Great Britain, China and France are permanent members of the Security Council.

Non-permanent members of the Security Council are elected for two years. Equatorial Guinea, Côte d'Ivoire, Kuwait, Peru and Poland were elected for 2018-2019, and Germany, Belgium, the Dominican Republic, Indonesia and South Africa for 2019-2020.

The powers of Equatorial Guinea, Côte d'Ivoire, Kuwait, Peru and Poland expired on December 31. Starting January 1, Vietnam, Niger, Tunisia, Estonia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines will take their place.

As specified, from January 1, the presidency of the Security Council will pass from the United States to Vietnam.

In November, Andrei Belousov, Russia's deputy representative at the UN office in Geneva, during a discussion of the committee’s work program for 2020, announced that Russia could again raise the issue of transferring the work of the First Committee of the UN General Assembly from the United States.