Security Council: Meetings Coverage

Heightened tensions between Serbia and Kosovo had reduced the space for political dialogue, a process that was as fragile as it was essential, the senior United Nations official in the Balkans region told the Security Council today.

The Security Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Guinea-Bissau (UNIOGBIS) for one year today, reaffirming its full commitment to the consolidation of peace and stability in that country.

The Security Council today renewed for one year a targeted arms embargo, travel ban and assets freeze against individuals and entities designated by the Committee established pursuant to resolution 2140 (2014) on Yemen.

Genuine political commitment to peace in Syria would be needed if 2017 was to offer any prospect other than the death and destruction of the past six years, the head of United Nations humanitarian affairs told the Security Council today.

Voicing deep concern over regional conflicts, radicalization and violent extremism, the Chair-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) today stressed the need to foster open and constructive dialogue in seeking common solutions to threats.

Peace must never be taken for granted in Europe, where simmering conflicts could potentially impact security on a global scale, speakers in the Security Council said today, during an open debate that cast a particular spotlight on the situation in Ukraine.

The Middle East continued to be plagued by extremism, bloodshed and displacement that spread intolerance, violence and religious radicalism far beyond the region, the Secretary-General’s Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process told the Security Council today, urging both the Israeli and Palestinian sides to contemplate carefully the future they envisioned for their respective peoples.

The security situation in the capital of the Central African Republic had taken a turn for the better, but it remained a matter of concern in other parts of the country, the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations told the Security Council today, emphasizing the need for ongoing international attention.

Any breakthrough in the institutional crisis gripping Guinea-Bissau would be short-lived if the structural causes of instability were not addressed, the senior United Nations official in the West African country told the Security Council today, urging national actors to implement the Conakry Agreement signed last year to surmount the political impasse.

The Security Council today called upon Member States to address the danger of terrorist attacks against critical infrastructure, adopting a related resolution before holding a day-long open debate on that subject.