The UN imposes the obligation to justify any veto, against the backdrop of Russian blockage on Ukraine

From now on, the 5 permanent members of the UN Security Council will have to justify their recourse to the veto.

China, Russia, United States, France and United Kingdom are the only countries on the planet with this right to block a United Nations resolution.

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From now on, the 5 permanent members of the UN Security Council will have to justify their recourse to the veto.

China, Russia, United States, France and United Kingdom are the only countries on the planet with this right to block a United Nations resolution.

The reform which was adopted on Tuesday April 26 in New York, where the UN is headquartered, had been considered for several years but the idea was revived by the invasion of Ukraine, while Russia is the champion of the veto.

She has used it 143 times since the UN was created in the aftermath of World War II.

Could the obligation to justify a veto reduce its use?

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Russia has used its right of veto a dozen times since the start of the war in Syria in 2011 to block resolutions, including on ceasefires or on humanitarian aid.

Would she have hesitated to do so if she had to justify herself to the rest of the world?

Same question about the dozens of vetoes drawn by the United States to torpedo resolutions condemning Israeli policy in the occupied Palestinian territories?

Limits to current operation

One can doubt it, especially since the reform adopted at the UN is not even binding.

The member country of the Security Council having used the veto will have ten days to explain it to the 193 member countries of the UN General Assembly, unless it does not want to do so.

So, for lack of having a concrete effect, this change once again reveals the limits of the current functioning of the UN.

Remember that a project to reform the Security Council plans to expand it, in particular to represent Africa.

Brazil, India, Japan, Germany are also countries that wish to integrate a future less closed Security Council, but this reform project has already been on the UN agenda for 40 years.

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  • UN

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  • Ukraine