Greece is intensifying its efforts to win a seat as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the 2025-2026 term.
To this effect, Foreign Affairs Minister George Gerapetritis is visiting New York on Monday and Tuesday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Sunday.
“The Minister of Foreign Affairs will have a meeting with the Heads of the Permanent Missions of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and a working lunch with the Permanent Representatives of the Pacific Small Island Developing States (Pacific SIDS), to whom he will present the Greek candidacy’s priorities,” the Ministry announcement said.
On Monday, Gerapetritis will meet with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. They will discuss possibilities for resuming long-stalled efforts to solve the division of Cyprus, an issue which has festered since Turkey invaded and occupied the northern third of the island in 1974 in response to a coup staged by Greece’s then-military regime aimed at unifying the island with Greece.
The Foreign Minister has already discussed the Cyprus issue with his US counterpart, Antony Blinken, in Washington DC on Friday,
On Tuesday, Gerapetritis will attend a UN Security Council meeting on “The impact of climate change and food insecurity on the maintenance of international peace and security.”
Greece launched candidacy for Security Council seat in 2023
In March 2023, Greece officially launched the campaign to become a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council.
The then-Foreign Affairs Minister Nikos Dendias launched the bid at an event organized by the Permanent Mission of Greece to the UN in New York.
In the presence of dozens of heads of permanent delegations from around the world, the Greek Foreign Minister noted that “Greece always supports dialogue and diplomacy as the only viable means to achieve the main goals of this Organization: international peace, development and the promotion of human rights.”
Dendias focused on the words democracy, dialogue, and diplomacy, which will form the road map for Greece’s candidacy.
Membership of the UΝ Security Council
Membership of the United Nations Security Council is held by five permanent members and ten elected, non-permanent members.
To ensure geographical continuity, a certain number of members is allocated for each of the five UN regional groupings.
Each year, the UN General Assembly elects five new members for a two-year term. These elections always begin in October and continue until the two-thirds majority for the number of countries for each region has been reached. Re-election is allowed, but the term must not be consecutive.
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