Egypt wins seat on UN Security Council

The United Nations General Assembly almost unanimously voted for Egypt as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council (UNSC) on Thursday.

Winning 179 out of 193 votes, Egypt will represent North Africa at the UNSC in 2016-17. It ran unopposed for the seat, but UN protocal mandates that a formal vote still take place.

In addition to five permanent members — France, the United Kingdom, the United States, Russia and China — who have the right of veto, the Security Council consists of 10 non-permanent members representing five regional blocs for a period of two years. Every year, the General Assembly votes on five non-permanent seats during its annual meeting in October. The non-permanent members need to garner two-thirds of the vote to gain a seat.  

“Egypt will work vigorously to defend and support African and Arab priorities in the UNSC,” Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Ahmed Abu Zeid tweeted in response to the announcement.

Abu Zeid added that “Egypt will strive to support and promote peace and security across the globe, and uphold principles of the UN charter.”

Four other new countries also joined the UNSC on Thursday, including Ukraine, Japan, Uruguay and Senegal.

In addition to the North Africa seat — which Egypt has held on four other occasions, most recently from 1996-97 — Egypt is also filling the Arab swing seat, which alternates every odd calendar year between the Asia-Pacific Group and the African Group. The Arab swing seat is currently held by Jordan, whose term will expire at the end of 2015.