Near-unanimous approval shows VN’s special position in int’l community

New York (VNA) – The support of up to 192 of the 193 United Nations member states for Vietnam to become a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council (UNSC) for 2020-2021 shows that the country has a “very special position in the heart of the international community”, said Deputy Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung.

He made the remark in an interview with the Vietnam News Agency after the election result was announced on June 7.

Trung noted during the preparation process, Vietnam had expected to win a big number of votes, but only few people had thought of such a high result. This showed the international community’s high appreciation of Vietnam’s foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, peace and development, the country’s stature in the international arena, along with its reform achievements.

The UNSC is the most important organ of the UN that has the leading responsibility for maintaining global peace and security under the UN Charter. It is also the only UN organ with the power to make decisions about peace and security which members are obliged to follow, and those decisions directly affect countries.

Vietnam was a UNSC non-permanent member in 2008-2009. However, the world’s context is more complicated now, the official said, noting the Middle East’s situation, the differences between big countries, and the Asia-Pacific region where there exist many risks and challenges to peace and security that are bigger than those 10 years ago, when Vietnam served in this post for the first time.

The deputy minister also pointed out many advantages for the country, elaborating that peace and development are still the trend, and Vietnam has gained more experience. 

Notably, the country’s foreign policy of peace, cooperation, and multilateralisation and diversification of foreign relations, as well as its major viewpoints in the international community and the UNSC’s agenda, has been supported by other countries, Trung added.-VNA