Intervention by the Permanent Representative of the Argentine Republic, Ambassador Martín García Moritán

February 6

Mr. Co-Chairs

Allow me first to thank you for convening this meeting, and to reiterate our congratulations for presiding over our work. Amb. Jinga and Amb. Khiari, you can count with our full cooperation.

Argentina associates itself with the intervention made by Italy on behalf of the Uniting for Consensus and reiterates what was said by other members of the Group regarding the need to work towards a coherent and consistent solution with what we have unanimously agreed to do more of two  decades ago.

This does not imply that countries set aside their national interests, but to take into account the equally legitimate interests of the entire membership and strive for a broad and legitimate agreement.

Argentina is confident that all delegations will do so in a spirit of flexibility and compromise, because only with a multilateral advocacy based on concrete actions, leadership capacity and generosity to look at the interests of all nations as their own, can it be achieved a more democratic, truly inclusive, efficient, deeply accountable and non-discriminatory Security Council.

It is clear that as a democratic institution, the United Nations is constantly faced with the need to build legitimacy and representation in its organs. And that is why are Member States that must carry out these negotiations, reach the necessary agreements and make both substance and procedural decisions on the Reform of the Security Council.

It is for this reason that only within the framework of intergovernmental negotiations, carried out by Member States in good faith, with mutual respect, open, inclusive and transparent, as established by this Assembly in its Resolutions 48/26, 53 / 30 and Decision 62/557, it would be feasible to find a solution that would have the broadest possible political acceptance.Building on the experience gained throughout this lengthy negotiation process, Argentina continues its readiness to find innovative and consistent formulas to ensure a more democratic presence, to improve the rotation prospects of non-permanent Members, and to reformulate methods to make the Council truly more transparent, interactive and inclusive.

The UN Charter establishes that "in order to ensure prompt and effective action by the United Nations, its Members confer on the Security Council primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security and recognize that the Security Council acts on behalf of in carrying out the duties imposed on them by that responsibility"

The victors of the Second World War assumed their responsibility on a permanent basis. However, any State that recognizes peace as an essential element for its development wishes to assume this responsibility in an active way must have the right to accede to the Council.

Hence, Argentina favors only the increase of members in the category of non-permanent, because perpetuity is intrinsically antagonistic to the notion of representativeness in a democratic context, where the will of those represented legitimizes this representation periodically. It is well known that any legitimate and representative democratic system has the fundamental element of election.

The improvement of Council working methods has been and continues to be an aspect of the greatest relevance for Argentina and has taken every opportunity, such as when chairing the Working Group on Documentation and Working Methods, promoted the Council to work more openly and transparently and accountable to the Organization.

In conclusion, in order to achieve the Security Council Reform that the international community deserves and needs, it is essential that any initiative in this regard respects the principles of transparency, good faith, mutual respect, openness and inclusiveness.
In this regard, Argentina believes that we must reach a consensus on the common definition of the principles that should inspire the reform of the Security Council. Once this consensus is reached, the next step of the reform will be more fluid, including the drafting of a text to serve as a basis for negotiation.

Argentina reiterates and reaffirms its willingness to consider, in an open spirit, any proposal that, in accordance with the principles agreed by the General Assembly, will bring the positions closer to achieving the necessary democratic reform of the Security Council.

Thank you very much