Security Council: Meetings Coverage

In stark contrast to the recent dramatic political transformations in the Middle East, Israeli-Palestinian negotiations remained at a standstill, with each party sceptical of the other’s intentions, as well as the international community’s seriousness, United Nations envoy Robert Serry told the Security Council today as he called for “credible and effective international intervention” to get the process back on track.

Welcoming recent progress in many sectors in Timor-Leste but stressing the importance of the peaceful and credible holding of upcoming elections, the Security Council this morning extended the mandate of the United Nations Integrated Mission in the new country for one year, until 26 February 2012, at current authorized levels.

With Timor-Leste’s broad transition strategy showing solid progress on security- and judicial-sector reforms, the top United Nations official in the country told the Security Council today that upcoming elections and the transformation of the world body’s mission there would be important political tests for the resiliency of the Timorese Government and the durability of the institutions built since the military crisis of 2006.

The Security Council today failed to adopt a text that would have described as “illegal” Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory occupied since 1967 while reiterating demands that all settlement activity cease immediately.

There was a pressing need to launch the internationally-mandated dialogue between authorities in Kosovo and Serbia, long delayed by political turmoil in Kosovo, and to work towards viable cooperation on peace and security as well as other critical issues facing the region, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative told the Security Council today.

The Security Council today authorized a three-month extension of the temporary redeployment of infantry and aviation units from the United Nations Mission in Liberia to the Organization’s Operation in Côte d’Ivoire.

Setting out the priorities for the 2011 term in the Chair of the OSCE, the Lithuanian Foreign Minister stressed today the values that the regional body held in common with the United Nations and called for greater cooperation to expand peace, advance human rights, generate sustainable development and build a safer world.

The Security Council stressed today the need to take into account the economic and social dimensions of conflict, in addition to the political factors of maintaining international peace and security, as more than 60 speakers, including Government ministers, the Secretary-General and a World Bank official, took part in a day-long debate.

Welcoming the 7 February official announcement of the Southern Sudan referendum’s final results, which showed 98.83 per cent of voters choosing independence, the Security Council called today on the international community to lend its full support to all Sudanese people as they built a peaceful and prosperous future.

Security Council members welcomed today the European Union’s work to help realize United Nations peace and security goals in a wide range of situations around the world, following a briefing by the regional organization’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. Surveying a few of those situations, Catherine Ashton emphasized that security, development and democracy, good governance and respect for human rights were all interlinked.