Russia Yet To Decide Whom To Support As New IAEA Chief - Envoy

Russia Yet to Decide Whom to Support as New IAEA Chief - Envoy

Russia has not decided yet whom to support as the new head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) but wants the next director general to be depoliticized and immune to external pressure, Russia's representative to international organizations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, said on Friday

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th September, 2019) Russia has not decided yet whom to support as the new head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) but wants the next director general to be depoliticized and immune to external pressure, Russia's representative to international organizations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, said on Friday.

The agency is expected to appoint a successor to Yukiya Amano, who passed away in July, in the coming weeks.

"I wouldn't tell you the name for sure. Firstly, it is because we haven't officially determined our preference yet. Secondly, even when we do it we will not announce our choice just like most other countries," Ulyanov told reporters in Vienna.

Four countries Argentina, Burkina Faso, Romania and Slovakia have submitted their candidates.

"It's difficult to choose, but we will have to. Such are the rules of the game," he said.

As for the requirements Russia was looking for in a suitable candidate, Ulyanov said that the new IAEA chief must be "a professional, a good administrator, a depoliticized person who would ensure impartiality in IAEA work."

Russia also wants Amano's successor to be able to resist external pressure, he added.

"All states try to exert pressure on Director General. We also do it when needed and so do US, France, Ghana, all states," Ulyanov said.

One of the four contenders, Argentina's Rafael Grossi, earlier in September visited Moscow and told Sputnik in an interview he had already received many signs of support and was optimistic about his chances. Grossi is running against Romania's Cornel Feruta, who currently serves as IAEA acting director general; Burkina Faso's Lassina Zerbo, the executive secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization; and Slovakia's Marta Ziakova, who was elected as the president of the 62nd IAEA General Conference in 2018.