Participants in a closed session of the UN Security Council committee on the admission of new members failed to reach a consensus on Palestine's accession to the international organization, according to Vanessa Frazier, Malta's Permanent Representative to the UN, who chairs the Security Council in April.
"There was no consensus at the committee meeting. However, the majority of participants were in favor of Palestine joining the UN," Frazier noted. She added that many countries emphasized that Palestine meets all the criteria for joining the international organization. The lack of consensus was attributed to some participants' desire to discuss Palestine's admission in more detail, which Frazier described as anything but "completely apolitical."
"As chair of the committee, I decided to circulate the draft report under the 'no objection' procedure," Frazier stated. She indicated that the next steps would depend on whether objections arise.
Russia's Permanent Representative to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, confirmed that no consensus had been reached. His first deputy, Dmitriy Polyanskiy, noted that "any member of the Security Council can at any time submit a draft resolution with a positive recommendation for membership." "So the word here is up to our Arab colleagues," he wrote in his Telegram channel.
Earlier, Frazier clarified that Palestine's application had been submitted to the Security Council's committee for the admission of new members. On Monday, the Security Council held a meeting where Frazier requested the members to resume consideration of Palestine's application for admission to the UN as a full member, in accordance with the procedure. "I do not hear any objections, the decision has been taken," she said.
Palestine's Status at the UN
Palestine currently holds permanent observer status at the UN. The Palestinian authorities had applied for full membership in 2011 but later decided to remain as a permanent observer. In April, Palestine sent a letter to the Security Council asking it to resume consideration of its application to join the UN as a full member.
The process of admitting a country to UN membership, as outlined on the UN's website, involves a decision by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the Security Council. For a country's application to receive a recommendation, 9 out of 15 Security Council members must vote in favor, provided that none of the permanent members (Britain, China, Russia, the United States, and France) vote against it. The application is then brought before the General Assembly, where it must receive a two-thirds vote.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
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Based on materials from TASS