Polish FM optimistic about place on UN Security Council

Poland has a good chance of being chosen as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski has said in New York.

Waszczykowski

He was speaking after meeting the new UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, on Monday.
Waszczykowski said that his “short, less than two-day visit to New York is dedicated above all to our efforts to… gain a non-permanent place on the Security Council in 2018-19.”

He added: “It was for this purpose that I met the new, recently chosen [Secretary General] Antonio Guterres.”
Waszczykowski said he would also meet several dozen ambassadors from various countries to argue Poland’s case.

The UN Security Council consists of five veto-wielding permanent members (China, France, Russia, the UK and US), and 10 non-permanent members elected by the organisation’s General Assembly for a term of two years.
One non-permanent place goes to a country from Eastern Europe.

Poland has been engaged in a flurry of diplomatic efforts in recent months to seek support for its efforts to be chosen as a non-permanent member.
A vote on accepting new, non-permanent members takes place in June.