Security Council: No name

On 6 March 2015, the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1533 (2004) concerning the Democratic Republic of the Congo held an exchange of views on the final report of the Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of the Congo with the representatives to the United Nations of Angola (on behalf of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region), Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, South Africa (on behalf of the Southern African Development Community), Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania.

Describing a deep partnership between the United Nations and the European Union, speakers at the Security Council this morning called for strengthening the relationship further in a range of critical areas.

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President François Delattre (France):

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President François Delattre (France):

Following the latest findings by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the Security Council today condemned in the strongest terms any use of chlorine as a weapon in Syria, signalling it would take “Chapter VII” action if such arms were used again in the nearly four-year-old conflict.

Despite progress on the ground following the February ceasefire, the situation in Ukraine remained fragile and far from irreversible, the Security Council heard today from three senior United Nations officials, as members called for full implementation of the Minsk agreements.

The Security Council, recognizing in the current circumstances the need for a short extension of the mandate of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), did so for a further two weeks, until 31 March.

Libya could not allow the political crisis and armed conflict that had gripped the country for much of the past year to fester, the United Nations’ senior official there told the Security Council today, stressing that unless leaders acted “quickly and decisively”, the risks to national unity and territorial integrity were imminent.

The Security Council today, determining that the proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and their delivery means remained a threat to international peace and security, agreed to extend for 13 months the mandate of the Panel of Experts that assists the Sanctions Committee on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

The Security Council today created a system to impose sanctions on those blocking peace in South Sudan, with some members cautioning that such moves could derail Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) negotiations aimed at securing a deal by 5 March, and others expressing hope they would pressure rival leaders into ending the bloodshed that had plunged the United Nations’ newest country into civil war for more than a year.