UAE announces candidacy for UN Security Council seat

The United Arab Emirates has announced its candidacy for a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for the 2022-2023 term, state media has said.

In June 2021, the UN General Assembly will elect five member states to serve on the Security Council, which has a total of 10 non-permanent members who serve overlapping two-year terms.

“My country will follow the same steps and principles upon which it was founded to maintain international peace and security in cooperation with the members of the council,” Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan said in New York.

“We affirm that the UAE will work towards solving the important issues confronting states with resolve and determination,” he said, according to a report on official Emirati news agency WAM on Tuesday.

The UAE’s role on the global diplomatic stage has been heightened in recent months with its controversial announcement that it will normalise relations with Israel, a significant policy shift that was also adopted by neighbouring Bahrain.

The United States-brokered normalisation accords were signed as part of its plan to rally the Arab allies against Iran, which Washington has put under crippling economic and diplomatic pressures.

WAM said the UAE’s campaign for the UNSC seat would focus on “efforts to advance inclusion, spur innovation, build resilience and secure peace”. It last served on the Security Council in 1986-1987.

The UN Security Council has five permanent, veto-wielding members – China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the US – and 10 elected members with seats allocated to regional groups.