Security Council: Meetings Coverage

The current calm and stability were paving a smooth road ahead to the “democracy fest” anticipated for Timor-Leste with next year’s landmark elections, the United Nations top representative for that country told the Security Council today, introducing the Secretary-General’s latest report on recent developments.

Condemning and deploring all acts of piracy and armed robbery against vessels in the waters off the coast of Somalia, the Security Council today extended for 12 months its authorizations granted to States and regional organizations cooperating with the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia in the fight against such acts.

“Without a credible path forward, accompanied by more far-reaching steps on the ground,” Robert Serry, the Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process told the Security Council today, “the viability of the Palestinian Authority and its State-building agenda — and, I fear, of the two-State solution itself — cannot be taken for granted”.

Calling on political leaders in Bosnia and Herzegovina to form a new Council of Ministers in the wake of the 3 October 2010 elections, to refrain from divisive rhetoric and to make further concrete and tangible progress towards European Union integration, the Security Council today authorized the European Union multinational stabilization force (EUFOR ALTHEA) for another year, until 15 November 2012.

It was clear that there were huge expectations for South Sudan’s transition into a stable democracy, but even with the best of intentions on the part of its leadership, the Government would need all of the support it could get, Hilde Johnson, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative in that country, told the Security Council today.

The High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina told the Security Council today that, given what he saw in that country, there was still a clear need for his Office to remain in place, and given the continued negative trends and political instability, it was essential for EUFOR (European Union multinational stabilization force), with a Chapter VII executive mandate, to also remain in place.

Terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction continued to pose a serious threat to international peace and security, the Chairman of the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1540 (2004) said as the Security Council reviewed the work of its three anti-terrorism Committees.

Strongly condemning ongoing attacks by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in parts of central Africa, the Security Council today, taking up two reports on the region, demanded an immediate end to all attacks by that armed group, particularly those on civilians, urged the release of all abductees and insisted that all elements of the group surrender and disarm.

A concerning escalation of tensions along the border areas between Sudan and South Sudan could flare into widespread violence unless both sides recommitted to finding peaceful solutions to pending issues, the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations warned the Security Council this morning during a briefing on recent developments in those countries.

The Security Council, meeting independently from, but concurrently with, the General Assembly, today elected four judges to the International Court of Justice for nine-year terms, beginning on 6 February 2012, but failed to elect a fifth judge during five rounds of secret balloting.