Czechia to apply for UN Security Council seat in 2031 and 2032

Czechia will apply for a seat at the UN Security Council (UNSC) in 2032 and 2033, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jan Lipavský has confirmed today. The country last had a temporary seat as a non-permanent member in 1994 and 1995. In 2007, Czechia applied for membership, but Croatia instead took the seat. The election for the seat will be held in 2031.

The UN Security Council has 15 members, five of which are permanent and hold vetoes (China, France, Russia, the U.S., and the UK). The UN General Assembly elects the remaining 10 non-permanent members for two years via a two-thirds majority. Elected countries represent different regions. Current non-permanent members include the UAE, Albania, and Mozambique. 

Russia took charge of the rotating one-month presidency of the UN General Assembly in April this year. Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba labeled the situation “a bad joke” in light of the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Czechia’s foreign minister also noted that Czechoslovakia was a founding member of the UN. He pledged that Czechia would do its part to bolster global security via the UNSC.

In September 2022, Lipavský delivered a speech at the UNSC as the first representative of Czechia after nearly 30 years. He called for the establishment of a special international tribunal to prosecute the crime of aggression that Russia committed against Ukraine.