MFA: As UNSC member, Poland will contribute to world order
After becoming a member of the United Nations Security Council for a period of two years, effective January 1, 2018, Poland will be able to promote its policy priorities and contribute to world order, the country's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
According to the Foreign Ministry's press office, Poland's membership of the UNSC reflects the country's ambition to play an active role internationally and pursue a foreign policy which is global in reach.
Moreover, this enhanced status at the UN will enable Warsaw to participate in the debate on how to solve the world's main problems. It will also allow Poland to contribute to world order.
As the Foreign Ministry explained to PAP, the two years at the UNSC represent a unique opportunity to promote and implement Polish foreign-policy priorities in this global forum.
Warsaw gets the chance to present its position on issues which matter for regional security, as well as on those relating to the maintenance of international peace and security.
"We also treat the UNSC as a means of working more closely with its members and with the rest of the UN's member states," the Foreign Ministry stated.
One of the key objectives will be giving Poland's foreign policy a global scope. Warsaw aims to become known for its commitment to solving problems, not just in European security, but also where the UNSC's task is the most difficult, especially in Africa.
"Our general priorities during membership of the UNSC," the Foreign Ministry wrote, "will be as follows:
- supporting the principles of international law (including the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity);
- preventing conflicts and promoting mediation;
- working on issues connected with new threats to peace and security (for example, those posed by non-state entities and of a hybrid character)."
Poland's Permanent Representative at the UN will take charge of three of the UNSC's sanctions committees - on Iraq, Sudan and South Sudan. Warsaw will also assume the monthly presidency of the council: in May 2018 and probably in the latter part of 2019.
Thus, Poland will be well-placed to implement its objectives, although the Foreign Ministry pointed out any resolution could be blocked by the UNSC's five permanent members: Russia, China, France, Great Britain and the US.
In 2018, fellow members of the European Union (besides France and the UK, also Sweden and the Netherlands) will be Warsaw's natural partners in the UNSC, but Poland is also in regular contact with the US and other members, such as Kazakhstan and Kuwait.
According to the Foreign Ministry, an important challenge will be dealing with emergency issues, as well as with African affairs, which dominate the council's agenda. Poland's presence on the dark continent remains limited, but new embassies have recently been opened in Senegal and Tanzania.
Poland also supports calls for a reform of the UNSC, so that the body becomes more transparent and efficient. In Warsaw's view, the power of veto should be curbed, especially in the case of the gravest crimes against international law, while inadequately represented regions (such as Central Europe and Africa) ought to receive new non-permanent seats.
This is Poland's sixth stint as UNSC member, the previous having taken place in 1996-1997. Back then, the country focused on ways to limit the negative effects of armed conflicts (for instance, by protecting civilians and human rights), sought to help ease tensions in the Middle East and resolve the situation in Albania, the Foreign Ministry noted. (PAP)
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