The UN Security Council met on Thursday, April 9, to discuss the coronavirus for the first time, as the body charged with maintaining international peace and security struggles to find consensus within it. whether to take action on the epidemic or not.

The Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, called for unity during this virtual meeting of the Council, composed of 15 countries. "The pandemic also poses a significant threat to the maintenance of international peace and security, with the risk of worsening social unrest and violence that would greatly affect our ability to fight the disease," said Antonio Guterres to Council members whose commitment, he added, will be "crucial" to mitigate the security impact of the pandemic. "In fact, a signal of unity and determination on the part of the Council would mean a great deal during this time of anxiety," he said.

Throughout the session, several ambassadors participating in the meeting leaked extracts or all of their interventions on Twitter or directly to journalists.

"Chinese virus"

Security Council inaction on the coronavirus has been criticized by diplomats who have blamed it on the United States and China. Beijing has shown itself to be reluctant with regard to a possible involvement of the UN body, putting forward the idea that this was outside the scope of its mandate.

Washington, for its part, insisted that any possible action by the Council mention the origin of the virus - which appeared last December in mainland China -, which bothers Beijing. US President Donald Trump last month called the coronavirus "a Chinese virus" and blamed Beijing for its slowness to warn the rest of the world of the danger.

China's ambassador to the United Nations told the council on Thursday that the council should reject any act of stigma or politicization. "To overcome this global challenge, we need solidarity, cooperation, mutual support and mutual aid," said Zhang Jun, stressing that looking for a "scapegoat" was counterproductive.

Germany, for its part, stressed that "the pandemic is a question of security and international peace", while other countries, such as Russia, China and even South Africa, on the contrary consider that health is beyond the purview of the Security Council. France has confirmed that it will devote 1.2 billion euros to the fight against the disease in Africa.

Two draft resolutions

In recent weeks, Council members have been working on two separate draft resolutions. The first, initiated by Tunisia, is carried by the ten non-permanent members. In its latest version, obtained Thursday by AFP, it calls for "urgent, coordinated and united international action to limit the impact of the Covid-19". It also provides that "the Security Council will oversee the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on international peace and security", with regular reports from the secretary-general "when necessary". The text finally calls for "an immediate global ceasefire to allow an adequate humanitarian response".

As in challenge to the group of permanent members, the project was not transmitted to them and has only been negotiated since March 30 between Germany, Belgium, Dominican Republic, Indonesia, Estonia, Vietnam, Tunisia, Niger, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. and the Grenadines, and South Africa. No vote has been scheduled yet.

The second project, centered on support for a "cessation of hostilities" called for in March by the head of the UN and on a "humanitarian pause", is proposed by France. It is only discussed so far between the five permanent members (United States, Russia, China, France and United Kingdom), which is "very frustrating", confide to AFP anonymously several diplomats from non-permanent member countries.

Before a negotiation at 15, it is necessary to settle the differences between the "big five", one retorts in Paris, otherwise it will not work. France is hopeful to organize soon a summit (by videoconference) of the leaders of these five countries in order to resolve the difficulties, in particular between Beijing and Washington.

With Reuters and AFP

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