Seat on UN Security Council is highly important to Latvia - Teikmanis

  • 2025-01-21
  • LETA/TBT Staff

RIGA - It is highly important for Latvia to secure a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council because the US creates the international rule of law, Andris Teikmanis, Latvia's former ambassador to Russia, Germany and the US, told LETA.

He admitted that not everything in the UN is ideal and that reaching an agreement in an organization with 193 member states is a challenge, but for as a small country like Latvia it is highly important that the the rule of law in international processes is upheld.

"If we dismantle this order, we return to the Middle Ages, where might makes right. We have to realize that there is no alternative to the UN. There is no other institution that can define the international rule of law, even if it is not always effective", the former diplomat argued.

He noted that the UN Security Council is the most serious international security institution that can take binding decisions. The problem is the veto power of China and Russia, but there is no alternative to the Security Council.

Latvia's non-permanent membership of the UN Security Council would open up huge opportunities for Latvia to come forward with its own initiatives and influence the international agenda.

"If we are not there, no one else will do it for us. Our neighbors Lithuania and Estonia proved this by coming up with a number of very important initiatives while they were non-permanent members of the Security Council. However we may criticize the UN or its secretary-general, there is no alternative," Teikmanis said.

He partly agreed with the conclusion of several studies that the UN has been unable to influence or solve any of the crises of the last decades, but stressed that no crisis resolution agreement is "invented out of thin air", but is based on UN resolutions.

"So I would not say that the UN is an institution that we can ignore," Teikmanis said.

It has already been reported that in 2011 Latvia applied for an elected or non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council for the 2025 elections for a two-year term: 2026 and 2027. There are currently 193 countries in the UN. Latvia needs at least two-thirds of the votes, or 129 votes, to be elected. Latvia has launched a campaign for its bid with a motto "Together for Peace and Resilience". In total, 15 countries are on the UN Security Council.