Albania presented officially its candidature in 2007 and it runs for the vacant seat which belongs to the Group of Eastern Europe. The ten countries which are elected serve in the Security Council for a two-year period without a veto right. One of these ten countries should be from the Eastern Europe part of which is also Albania according to the division of the political-regional groups in UN. So far, Albania has no challengers in the group for its candidature
By Sokol Gjoka*
Albania’s candidature for a non- Permanent seat at the Security Council for the 2022-2023 period is another major objective of Albania’s foreign policy. Albania is part of those 60 UN member countries which have never been members of the Security Council. We have been a candidate country for the first time in 1995 when we lost.
Membership of Albania in the UN Security Council is undoubtedly the most important position that a country can have in the international arena because visibility, prestige and influence earned by a country which has a seat in the Council overpasses significantly its traditional political weight and power that are usually determined by the geographic size, population and economic and military power. During its two- year mandate in the Security Council, Albania will be involved in the most important decision- making international body linked with peace and security of the planet and will negotiate with the greatest world powers on equal footing.
The membership in the Security Council is not only a mandate of national capacity but also a great international responsibility because according to the UN Charter the elected members of the SC (elected members E10) are elected and act on behalf of all the UN member states. Likewise even though the country is elected in national quality it should not be forgotten that it represents there in a way or another even the countries of the geographical group to which it belongs with which it is in constant contact and reports to them on the activity of the Council.
Albania’s interest to serve in the Security Council
All the campaigning period, and especially the two- year membership in the SC will give Albania and its foreign policy the greatest visibility that the Albanian state and its foreign policy have ever had.
The tenure in the SC of Albania will make it an important actor in international decision- making where the international role and weight will be maximal. In addition its tenure in the SC will strengthen the role and weight of Albania in the Balkan region and beyond.
Albania’s membership in SC and its positive performance will be also a valuable contribution for the achievement of its important objective: EU accession.
In the meantime the experience that Albania will obtain during the SC mandate will be a precious asset in the orientation of its foreign policy for the period of service in SC and further on.
Through its tenure in SC Albania will not only strengthen its engagement and contribution for international peace and security but also its influence and cooperation with many different countries in the world which have been far from the interest of bilateral cooperation.
The intensification of the lobbying campaign of Albania to obtain a non- permanent seat in SC will increase its links and cooperation with many international organizations introducing to them a country with growing interests with regards to the major international developments.
The performance of Albania in SC will also serve further recognition of Kosovo in international organizations but also by different countries in the world.
Albania presented officially its candidature in 2007 and it runs for the vacant seat which belongs to the Group of Eastern Europe. The ten countries which are elected serve in the Security Council for a two-year period without a veto right. One of these ten countries should be from the Eastern Europe part of which is also Albania according to the division of the political-regional groups in UN.
So far, Albania has no challengers in the group for its candidature. Theoretically the challenge of Albania’s candidature seems impossible. However, we are working under the conditions of the challenge. For a country to be elected in the UN Security Council, it should get two-thirds of the votes of the member countries of the United Nations. When it is the only candidate of the electoral group (in our case EEG), the candidate country is elected.
We have received a considerable support so far from many countries of the world for our candidature, mainly through exchanging support or have received unilateral support. Work continues at the Ministry in this direction, but mainly in New York as well as in other international organizations and in the bilateral aspect.
We are optimistic for this major objective and are preparing to have a successful performance during our mandate in the Security Council. /ADN
*Sokol Gjoka is Director of the Directorate of International Organizations at the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs. This contribution was delivered at a high-level seminar organized by the Embassy of Sweden in collaboration with the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs and the United Nations Association Albania in Tirana on 28 May 2019. The keynote speaker was Ambassador Carl Skau, formerly Ambassador and Deputy Representative during Sweden’s tenure in the UN Security Council 2017 and 2018. He is currently Sweden’s Special Envoy for Venezuela and member of the International Contact Group on Venezuela. The headline of his contribution was “How to make a difference in the UN Security Council? – experiences from Sweden’s term 2017-2018”.
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