The reform of the UN Security Council should include the elimination of any state’s veto power, the expansion of its membership, and the exclusion of any member actively involved in an “illegal war,” such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Alexander Stubb, the President of Finland, stated this in an interview with Reuters.
Stubbs declared that he would contribute his voice to the advocacy for reform at the United Nations General Assembly in New York next week, where the organisation’s Security Council composition will be debated. He believes that the organisation should expel any member who participates in an “illegal conflict” like the one that Russia is currently waging in Ukraine.
“The President of Finland also addressed the ability to veto in the UN Security Council.”No state should have the right to veto the UN Security Council,” he pointed out. Stubb also suggested increasing the number of permanent members from five to ten, adding one more representative from Latin America, two from Africa, and two from Asia.
Back In May 2023, speaking at a press conference in Hiroshima, Japan, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that reform of the Security Council and Bretton Woods system was necessary to fit the “realities of today’s world.”
Guterres also remarked that institutions needed modernising as they still reflected the power relations of 1945.
“The global financial architecture became outdated, dysfunctional and unfair,” he said. “In the face of the economic shocks from the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it has failed to fulfil its core function as a global safety net.”
