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UNITED NATIONS: Bosnia was elected as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the first time on Thursday along with Brazil, Nigeria, Gabon and Lebanon for 2010-2011, the president of the General Assembly announced.
The five will take their seats on the 15-member council next January 1, replacing Costa Rica, Libya, Uganda, Vietnam and Croatia who will complete their two-year mandate on December 31.
In the Eastern Europe group, Bosnia, which has never served on the council, was elected to the seat that will be left vacant by Croatia with 183 votes, Ali Triki, the president of the 192-member General Assembly, said.
Citing his country's painful war experience from 1992 to 1995, Bosnian Foreign Minister Sven Alkalaj said "we are going to be a strong voice for preventive diplomacy."
He highlighted the fact that Bosnia was endorsed by the full 23-member Eastern Europe group.
"Although we will act in our national capacity, we are going to be a part of a broader consensus that is growing in our neighbourhood, where all the countries share the same desire of peaceful and prosperous life," Alkalaj said.
In the Latin America and Caribbean group, Brazil - which already has served nine terms on the council, most recently from 2004-2005 - was the only candidate and was elected with 182 votes.
"Brazil is very honored with the support we have received," its UN ambassador Maria Luiza Viotti told reporters after the vote.
She pledged that her country, which is seeking a permanent seat on the council, would play a constructive role.
In the Africa group where two seats were up for grabs, Nigeria was elected with 186 votes, along with Gabon which received 184 votes.
Nigeria, Africa's oil giant and its most populous nation, previously served three terms, most recently in 1994-1995, while Gabon has never served.
Nigerian Foreign Minister Ojo Maduekwe hailed his country's election, expressing gratitude for "the solidarity of the entire African bloc."
"Preventive diplomacy will be central to our approach to many issues," he told reporters.
One seat was at stake in the Asia group and Lebanon won it with 180 votes.
France's UN Ambassador Gerard Araud welcomed the election of Lebanon, noting that the country, which will be the lone Arab member of the council, "weathered a civil war and is rebuilding its domestic institutions while consolidating its presence abroad."
Asked whether he expected a more moderate stance from Lebanon compared with that of the country it will replace, Libya, Araud told reporters: "Lebanon has always acted as a bridge between East and West and I think that will continue to be its role in the Security Council."
"It is going to be an even stronger Security Council, I think, next year," Britain's outgoing UN Ambassador John Sawers commented. "We have two large countries in Brazil and Nigeria who carry the weight of being a regional power."
"We have two countries in Lebanon and Bosnia who have been through conflict and can bring their own national experiences to the Security Council," he added.
The Security Council is the most important UN decision-making body, with its five permanent members - Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States - each having veto power over its decisions. It is tasked with maintaining international peace and security.
The council's 10 non-permanent seats are filled by the General Assembly, with five countries elected each year to two-year non-renewable mandates. To secure a seat, a candidate nation has to win two-thirds of votes cast in a secret ballot. - AFP/de
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