There will be a committee to consider Palestine's application for UN membership.
In a move seen as positive for Palestine's determination to join the United Nations as a full member state, on September 28, the United Nations Security Council held a short session and decided to assign a specialized committee to consider Palestine's application for UN membership.
In a move seen as positive for Palestine's determination to join the United Nations as a full member state, on September 28, the United Nations Security Council held a short session and decided to assign a specialized committee to consider Palestine's application for UN membership.
The committee is expected to meet for the first time this Friday.
Speaking at the session, Lebanon's Ambassador to the United Nations Nawaf Salam, whose country currently holds the presidency of the UN Security Council, said he would forward Palestine's application to the UN Admission Committee for new members for consideration.
The announcement did not meet with any objections from the Security Council members. Ambassador Salam stated: “I will forward the Palestinian application for membership to the United Nations to the Admission Committee for new members for consideration and then report on the results. Since there are currently no objections from the member countries, this decision has been adopted.”
In response to the move, Palestinian Ambassador to the United Nations Riyad Mansour welcomed the decision and considered it the first step towards the recognition of an independent Palestinian state.
“We thank the members of the Security Council for taking our request into account. This process will proceed step by step and we hope that the Security Council will shoulder its responsibility and approve our request,” Ambassador Mansour said.
Mr. Mansour also expressed hope that this process will not take too long, and that all members of the Security Council will give their assessment soon in the first discussion taking place this Friday.
Normally, the maximum time for considering the admission of a new member is 35 days. However, according to diplomats, this “bargaining” could take weeks or even longer.
Of the 15 members of the Security Council, two permanent members, Russia and China, and four other countries, India, Brazil, Lebanon and South Africa, have publicly supported Palestine. Meanwhile, the US has threatened to use its veto power at the Security Council to thwart Palestinian efforts.
Britain, France, Portugal and Germany are likely to vote against. The remaining four countries, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Colombia, Gabon and Nigeria, have yet to make their stance clear./.
(According to VNA/Vietnam+)
