UN General Assembly passes resolution requiring review of Security Council vetos
The United Nations General Assembly passed on Tuesday (April 26) a resolution requiring a session of the General Assembly to be held whenever a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council vetoes a resolution.
This proposal was first discussed more than two years ago and now has been adopted.
“It gave the General Assembly the new mandate for the Assembly to be convened automatically within 10 working days, every time a veto has been cast in the Security Council,” said Liechtenstein's ambassador Christian Wenaweser, who lead the resolution.
Many members said veto power is “not a privilege but a responsibility,” and welcomed the resolution's timely nature, due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Russia’s vetoes of Security Council resolutions regarding Ukraine since the invasion.
On the other hand, Russia’s representative Gennady Kuzmin said, “I have had no desire to join in with a consensus.”
The UNGA resolution requires the five permanent members of the Security Council - the United States, China, Russia, France and the United Kingdom - to explain the reason for their vetoes at the U.N. General Assembly.
