As Russia Critiques UN Security Council “Propaganda Wrangling” Session on Ukraine, Petr Iliichev to Succeed Pankin

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, November 26 -- The UN Security Council wrap up session that have become an expected part of each monthly President's program of work came under fire on November 26 from Russia's Ambassador Vitaly Churkin. 

  Beyond critiquing the Security Council's approach to such issues as Syria, Bosnia and Ukraine, Churkin questioned the utility of the wrap up sessions.

  He said these have become a theater for “glorifying approaches that are not effective.” As an observer, it does seem strange to have the Council's 15 members generally praising themselves and each other, rather than for example listening to the other 178 member states -- and, why not, the Observer State of Palestine. As with the spirit behind this Country - By - Country report, critique and disagreements are more illuminating than pablum.

  Churkin complained about a Russian draft Presidential Statement on the dangers of terrorists possibly using chemical weapons in Syria and Iraq being blocked at the expert level. 

  He again explained Russia's abstention on the month's Bosnia resolution, saying “it unacceptable that Bosnia and Herzegovina should be urged to join the European Union and NATO through a decision of the Security Council on the basis of Chapter 7 of the UN Charter.”

  On Ukraine, Churkin said that “the meeting on November 12 was used by those that proposed it for another round of propaganda wrangling.” On November 25, Ukraine saidUN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in a telephone conversation with Petro Poroshenko had “assured that the entire world supported Ukraine."

  Another Permanent Representative who spoke during the wrap up session, Mark Lyall Grant of the UK, largely praised Australia's month as Council president (Inner City Press' review is here), describing the Council's response to the reports of rape in Darfur “agile.” Others disagree, and wonder why the Council didn't “take up” the Secretary General's report on UNAMID's earlier cover ups.

  Inner City Press asked the UK Mission to confirm receipt of a letter from Darfuri groups calling for a review of the response of Herve Ladsous' UN Peacekeeping and got this in return: “I can confirm that we received the letter indirectly. In terms of contents, on alleged rape cases, the Security Council issued a press statement calling for a full investigation. The UK initiated the call for a press statement and so agree that this issue needs to be looked at.”

  Inner City Press has previously reported that Lyall Grant will leave as UK Permanent Representative in April 2015 and be replaced by Matthew Rycroft, here.

 Today, with Russian Deputy Permanent Representative Alexander Pankin's departure public confirmed by his farewell call on Ban Ki-moon's schedule, Inner City Press can report that Pankin's successor as Deputy Permanent Representative will be Petr Iliichev, expert in among other things African affairs. 

 These make up more than half of the Security Council's agenda, so it is appropriate -- how ever frequently or honesty the Council's work is reviewed. Watch this site.

   

UNSC Wrap-Up Grew to 74, UK Says Could Replace Lost Horizon Scanning Sessions

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, March 1 – During the UN Security Council “wrap-up” session on February 28, 74 member states came to listen, compared to only 23 at the end of January.

  Inner City Press on Friday asked Permanent Representative Mark Lyall Grant of the UK, which introduced a different reform with the “horizon scanning” Council briefing in 2010, how the two formats differ.

 “Both are useful,” Lyall Grant said diplomatically, not surprisingly. Wrap up session “could become as useful as horizon scanning, looking back but looking forward too, unrestricted, unrestrained.”

Inner City Press pointed out that the idea of horizon scanning was that the Secretariat could raise issues that the Council was not yet considering.

  Lyall Grant replied, “that was the original concept two and a half years ago, an unrestricted briefing from the Department of Political Affairs, right at the beginning of the month around agreement of the Program of Work. He could come in and say, 'you're deal with this, but what keeps me awake are x, y and z, which are not on the Program.'”

  Lyall Grant paused. “It hasn't worked that way for various and obvious reason. If the horizon scanning item have to be negotiated in advance it is less useful. Maybe wrap up is the best way to go.”

 As Inner City Press exclusively reported, this month's incoming Council president Russia once suggested that the next horizon scanning briefing should include Bahrain (or, why wasn't Bahrain on it.) Inner City Press got a lot of responses from the region interested in this. But the agenda item never happened.

 As Lyall Grant turned to go into the Council for his meeting with Russia's Vitaly Churkin, Inner City Press suggested that in some future wrap up sessions, which are closed to the press, the member states in the audience might be able to give their reviews of the Security Council's work.

  Lyall Grant laughed. And that's how it is, in the UN Security Council. Watch this site.

Footnote: while the February 28 session was closed, that evening one Council member told Inner City Press it had shortened its prepared statement while reading it - then another member “went out for more than 15 minutes.” For that, let the audience speak!