Greece’s Foreign Minister Addresses the UN Security Council

The Foreign Minister of Greece George Gerapetritis addressed the UN Security Council on Tuesday, stressing that the world needs a new vision of “global solidarity and intergenerational sustainability.”

His speech comes as Greece is intensifying its efforts to win a seat as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the 2025-2026 term.

In his address on threats to international peace and security, Gerapetritis said, “We need this type of new vision of global solidarity and intergenerational sustainability. Through ethical and rule-based global governance and fair burden sharing among states.”

The Greek FM placed particular emphasis on the effect of climate change on food insecurity, which, in turn with climate change, will threaten stability and social cohesion.

Higher temperatures have seriously damaged the environment, and the rise in sea levels is threatening the quality and reserves of fishing as well as the health and survival of many people. These are, emphasized the FM, problems not limited to a single region or country.

The Mediterranean Sea will not remain unaffected, as extensive forest fires and catastrophic flooding proved, he noted.

“Greece will take the initiative of the nexus climate-peace-security, making it a priority of its candidacy as a non-permanent member of the UΝ Security Council for 2025-26,” Gerapetritis said.

He also mentioned that Our Ocean Conference will take place in Athens on April 16th to 17th, serving as a bridge between the 28th UN Conference for Climate Change (COP28) last year and the UN Conference on Oceans in 2024, with the hope that countries will be committed and a clear roadmap be set out.

The complexity of the issues, however, cannot be resolved by a single government intervention that would bring spectacular results. It calls instead for a new way of thinking to protect the environment and food, like the World Trade Organization’s program ‘One Health’, an integrated, unifying approach considering the health of people, animals and ecosystems.

Wrapping up his speech, Gerapetritis said Greece seeks a universal alliance focused on sustainability, and supports a proposal for a special envoy of the UN for a sustainable future. “We owe it to future generations,” he said. “We must not forget we are not owners, but simple managers of the earth.”

Gerapetritis’ address wrapped up his high-level contacts in the United States, which included the joint opening with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken of the 5th Greece-US Strategic Dialog in Washington.

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.