Estonian president proposes eliminating Russia's veto power in the UN Security Council

Addressing world leaders at the UN General Assembly in New York, Estonian president Alar Karis called on member countries to revamp the UN Security Council. The outcome would involve removing the veto power of countries that violate international law in the UN Security Council.

President Karis says the near future will show the sort of world in which our children will be living. “Will barbaric violence and criminal destruction carry the day?” he asked. “Or does a just world await, one in which rules and law and order are respected? What can we learn from Russia’s aggression? How can we show future generations that aggression is never acceptable? Those responsible for aggression and conflicts must be brought to justice – including those who have the right of veto on the Security Council.”

“The time for change has come,” he said, “because the world is out of joint. The need for reform is more acute than it has ever been. The Security Council is at an impasse in regard to the war instigated by Russia, unable to act or make decisions in the biggest conflict we have seen in the heart of Europe since World War II. According to the UN Charter, the aim of the United Nations is to prevent and eliminate any threats to peace and to quell any acts of aggression. Russia has repeatedly breached these core principles.”

The Estonian head of state remarked that guaranteeing international peace and security was the Security Council’s very reason for being. “But instead of taking action, it has been crippled,” he said. “The ramifications of this are being felt all over the world, be it in the council’s inability to offer solutions to conflicts or ensure food security. This dangerous tendency did not start with Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, but has certainly been reinforced by it. We must work together to defend international law based on the UN Charter. Both the membership of the Security Council and the way it operates must be comprehensively reviewed.”