UN elects Panama as a member of the Security Council

The United Nations General Assembly elected Panama this Thursday as a non-permanent member of the Security Council for the 2025-2026 biennium. The Panamanian candidacy, which will replace Ecuador and came without opposition in the group of Latin America and the Caribbean, received the support of 183 of the 193 member states of the United Nations.

In addition to Panama, the General Assembly approved the non-permanent memberships in the Security Council of Denmark and Greece (both from the group relating to Western Europe and others), as well as Somalia (Africa) and Pakistan (Asia-Pacific). Denmark obtained 184 votes in favor; Greece, 182; Somalia, 179 and Pakistan 182. The vote is carried out by secret ballot.

These countries, which also attended without objection from their respective regional blocs, have all been members of the Council at some point, mainly Pakistan, with long experience. On this occasion, the places left vacant by Ecuador, Mozambique, Japan, Malta and Switzerland were renewed – with at least a two-thirds majority in the General Assembly.

“A challenge”
Thus, Panama will replace Ecuador, which ends its mandate at the end of this year, and will sit for the sixth time in history in the highest decision-making body of the UN. The Central American country, which is a founding member of the United Nations, will return to the Security Council after the 2007-2008 period. Before that, he had held a seat in the biennia of 1958-1959, 1972-1973, 1976-1977 and 1982-1983.

“We are facing critical geopolitical moments and being a member of the Security Council is a challenge. Not only for maintaining the world order, but also for the survival of the inhabitants of the planet,” said the Panamanian Foreign Minister, Janaina Tewaney, after the approval of her country’s candidacy. The countries that still have one more year of mandate are Guyana, Sierra Leone, Algeria, South Korea and Slovenia.

Along with the ten rotating seats, the Security Council is always made up of five permanent members, who also have veto power: the United States, China, Russia, France and the United Kingdom. Source: news

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