“Portugal is a medium-sized country with a global projection slightly higher than its actual weight, both at an economic, demographic and geopolitical level”, former ambassador to the United Nations (UN) Francisco Seixas da Costa explains to DN. The topic returns to the national political agenda in the week when the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, spoke again at the United Nations General Assembly. Without anything new in form or content, the head of state was astute in his call for reform of the institution. But what is at stake is Portugal’s candidacy, for the 2027-2028 biennium, as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, the most important body in the structure, which has been blocked for years by the use of the veto of the UN Security Council. five countries that have a permanent seat. One of them is Russia.
“Portugal, one of the oldest countries in the world – we are talking about one of the five or six oldest countries in the world, with borders defined many centuries ago – has advantages for all reasons, not least because it is a country with a very strong global expression,” continues the ambassador, who is confirmed on this point by the professor of political science at the Institute for Political Studies of the Catholic University (IEP-UCP).
“Portugal, one of the oldest countries in the world – we are talking about one of the five or six oldest countries in the world, with borders defined many centuries ago – has advantages for all reasons, not least because it is a country with a very strong global expression”
Portugal has been a member of the UN since 1956 and has served on the Security Council only three times. 1979. “It makes sense to support more non-permanent members because this also opens up the possibility that Portugal could be part of that body more often,” he notes.
International affinities
Portugal was a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council in the biennia 1979-1980, 1997-1998 and 2011-2012. In 2013, Portugal formalized its candidacy for the 2027-2028 biennium, with prior notice not exempted from participation at other levels within the UN. The current Secretary General of the United Nations, former Portuguese Prime Minister António Guterres, will end his second term as head of the organization in 2026, the same year that the Security Council elections will take place. Guterres previously served as United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees from 2005 to 2015. All told, Portugal has held high positions within the UN for more than twenty consecutive years.
Portugal,” upon registration [ao Conselho de Segurança da ONU] – the functioning of the UN always takes place on a regional basis; it is in an area where there are very strong candidates. This is what we call the countries of Western Europe and others,” says Lívia Franco.
The researcher reinvents the idea that “Portugal is competing with candidates such as Canada and Germany, for example,” which sometimes even brings challenges, since “these candidates” are “slightly stronger than ours, even from the point of view of the financial sector.” framework”. “On the other hand, Portugal is a country that enjoys global sympathy. That is why our candidacy, without such a large financial framework, was well received,” he concludes.
“Portugal today has a capacity for conversation in the world that is very rare”, adds Seixas da Costa. For the ambassador “in the so-called WEOG [a sigla em inglês para Western European and Other States Group, isto é, Grupo da Europa Ocidental e Outros Estados], there are two places. In one of the places, at the last election it had been, he appeared as a candidate for Germany. And for the other place it was Portugal and Canada. I remember in this election we rated Canada ten to zero, which is a power in the United Nations. Had a Deputy Secretary General, funds the United Nations think tank [Universidade das Nações Unidas]There are troops on missions all over the world, but Portugal gives Canada ten to zero,” Seixas da Costa points out.
This happens because, as Lívia Franco argues, Portugal has always had a “good historical relationship with the different regions of the world”, adding the fact that it is part of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP).
“We work well with these networks and they help us gain support for our candidacy”the researcher notes.
Russia and the veto
Despite being seen as the most important body within the United Nations, not least because it approves or blocks decisions on peace and international intervention, including the election of the organization’s Secretary-General, the Security Council is blocked because under fifteen members of which the members are part Five of these are permanent and have the power to veto any position taken. This is the circumstance in which the United States, Russia, China, France and the United Kingdom appear. The remaining ten members are elected for a two-year term and are not permanent. And this is where Portugal comes into the picture.
Russia, the protagonist in the most recent European conflict, with the military intervention in Ukraine, is not the only country that exercises the right of veto, “let us say, in an unacceptable way”, former UN ambassador António Monteiro emphasized to DN.
“It is clear that Russia, which has launched an invasion and violated the most fundamental rules of the United Nations, a country that is waging an unjust and unspeakable war, that the veto is one of the aberrations that we are now naturally confronted with. , and that it would be useful to put an end to it. But for that to happen, there needs to be a global understanding that I believe we are still a long way from achieving.”analyzes António Monteiro and warns that “the United States has also resorted to the veto, mainly to block actions related to the conflict in the Middle East”.
Seixas da Costa also agrees that this body “only works if at least one member lets go.” Just as there is currently a member of the Security Council who is perfectly engaged in a war, who has attacked a neighboring country, who is trying, including to sell a reading of international law, which no one accepts, which is the creation of those republics within Ukraine and which led the country to join the Russian Federation, well, we are faced with an irresolvable conflict of international law,” he concludes.
However, the former UN ambassador calls for the idea that this is the case ‘It is extremely important that Portugal sits on the Security Council on a regular basis’, because it is the country’s way of demonstrating the effectiveness of its diplomacy and the ‘dialogue’ nature of its ‘external posture’. “I am firmly convinced that we can sit on the Security Council from 2027,” he expects.
Source: DN
