UN Security Council Has Five New Members

Algeria, Guyana, South Korea, Sierra Leone, and Slovenia have been elected as new members for the United Nations Security Council for a two-year term. Belarus, on the other hand, failed in its application.

Five Countries Elected to the Security Council

The UN General Assembly elected Algeria, Guyana, South Korea, Sierra Leone, and Slovenia to the Security Council for a two-year term. In contrast, Belarus failed in its application.

Algeria, Guyana, South Korea, and Sierra Leone had no opponents in their respective regional groups during the election held in New York. Slovenia and Russia-allied Belarus contested each other in their regional group, and Slovenia won significantly against Belarus with 153 to 38 votes. The five countries will replace Albania, Brazil, Gabon, Ghana, and the United Arab Emirates from next year.

The Role of the UN Security Council

The UN Security Council is the only body that can legally adopt binding resolutions and deploy military forces to member states. It consists of 15 states, of which five are permanent members, and ten are elected for two-year terms. Each year, five non-permanent members are newly selected.

The permanent members – the US, Russia, China, the UK, and France – have a veto power and can individually block decisions. The current non-permanent members are Ecuador, Japan, Malta, Switzerland, and Mozambique.