UNITED NATIONS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th June, 2019) The UN General Assembly (UNGA) has elected Vietnam, Estonia, Tunisia, Niger and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines as non-permanent members of the UN Security Council for a two-year term beginning on January 1, 2020, General Assembly President Maria Fernanda Espinosa said after the vote on Friday.
"Having obtained the two-thirds majority necessary and the number of votes, Niger, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Tunisia and Vietnam are elected members of the Security Council for a two-year term beginning on the 1st of January 2020," Espinosa said.
The UN General Assembly was not able to elect a member state from Eastern Europe during the first round of voting and proceeded with the second round in which Estonia obtained 132 votes out of the 127 required to be elected.
"Having obtained the required two-thirds majority and the largest number of votes, Estonia is the elected member of the Security Council for a two-year term of office beginning on 1st of January 2020," Espinosa announced.
According to the regular country distribution by region, two seats were available for the African group countries, one for the Asia-Pacific group, one for the Latin America and the Caribbean and one for the Eastern European group.
Estonia, Niger, Romania, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Tunisia and Vietnam declared their candidacies for non-permanent seats in the UN Security Council.
The current non-permanent members of the UN Security Council - Cote d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Kuwait, Peru and Poland - will vacate their seats on 31 December.
The other five non-permanent states - Belgium, Dominican Republic, Germany, Indonesia and South Africa - will complete their terms by the end of 2020.
The UN Security Council is composed of 15 member states, including five permanent members and ten members that are elected for a two-year term.
Russia, China, France, the United Kingdom and the United States are the permanent members of the UN Security Council.
