Russia assumes the presidency of the Security Council and weakens even more image of the UN

Russia assumes, this Saturday (1st), the presidency of the Security Council of the UN, the body in charge of “maintaining peace and security” in the world. This took place two weeks after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant against Vladimir Putin for alleged war crimes.

It is a contradiction, but it is also about the complex world of International Law and diplomacy, always under geopolitical tensions and the weight of history.

Russia is a permanent member of the Security Council, together with the United States, China, France and the United Kingdom, which means that it has the power of veto in the body (or if, through its negative vote, the permanent members can reject any resolution , regardless of the number of positive votes).

Some of these possible resolutions include the imposition of sanctions, while others may be about the initiation of military actions against an aggressor.

Acting of the President of the Security Council

But what exactly is the president of the Conselho de Segurança face? And what does it mean for Russia, a country at war with Ukraine, subject to international sanctions for invasion and now with a head of state prosecuted for the alleged crime of deportation Ukrainian children to be handed over to Russian families, to assume this position?

In accordance with the procedural rules of the Security Council, the main functions of the interim president include organizing and chairing meetings, defining the agenda, communicating agreements, supervising possible crises and directing resolutions.

Due to its organizational role, rotation and limited temporality, the presidency of the Security Council is not seen as a position of power, especially in the context of the existence of permanent members.

The presidency of the Security Council also rotates, among the 15 members, and lasts just one month. The program is accurate at the beginning of the year and follows the alphabetical order of the two names in English of the two member countries.

O Japan was the president in January, Malta in February and Moçambique in March. And now, in April, it is the time of Russia. The remaining programming for 2023 may be consulted here.

Impact of the Russian presidency

The temporary presidency of Russia on the advice of one of the most powerful organizations in the world and supposed guarantor of world peace has, therefore, a more than symbolic impact — especially to the detriment of the already weakened image of the UN.

Isso, even after the decision of the TPI, an international institution of which Moscow is not a party and whose jurisdiction it does not recognize.

But it is not traced, no entanto, big real changes in their capacities.

Also, the last time that Russia was president of the Security Council was in February 2022, just or more than when it launched its invasion against Ukraine, more than a year ago.

Or what happened to Russia during its rotating presidency in 2022?

Or that it corresponded to the regiment — and nothing else: the presidency did not pronounce itself in February, despite the biggest war in Europe alone since 1945. She até presided over the meetings in which a resolution ordering the Russian Federation to cease its attacks and withdraw its troops I was voted.

Two 15 members of the Security Council, 11 will vote in favour, while China, India and the United Arab Emirates will abstain. At the end of the day, Russia voted against and vetoed the resolution, but it has nothing to do with being president of the Security Council.

permanent members

The United Nations Organization (UN) was created by the victors of World War II in October 1945, one more after the end of the conflict and after the signing of the Charter of São Francisco, its founding act.

The five most important powers in victory against Nazi Germany and Japan, which were the United States, the United Kingdom, France, the Soviet Union (its legal heir is Russia) and China, agreed to create the Security Council in 1946.

The objective was to tempt the use of diplomatic and military instruments to maintain peace assertively. These five countries have been central to the international community and are also the only ones to legally possess nuclear weapons, in accordance with the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

The Liga das Nações, which is the “ancestor” of the UN, formed after the end of the First World War, ended up being diluted precisely because of its inability to counter the emergence of new threats to the international order, such as Nazism in Europe and the expansion of Japan na Asia.

But the Security Council also does not have the expected effects. The existence of permanent members has the consequence that forceful decisions cannot be taken without the support of the five countries.

There are another 10 rotating members, without veto power, elected for 2-year terms from among the UN members.

When there are differences between these five permanent nations, no decision can be made, as at the beginning of the Cold War and also now, before the war in Ukraine.