UN Secretary-General António Guterres defended the work of the Security Council amid talk of its ineffectiveness, according to Euractiv.
Guterres made the comments ahead of the annual high-level week of the UN General Assembly, which opens on 24 September in New York.
He said it was “not fair” to judge the institution by the paralysis of the Security Council, which in two years failed to influence the wars in Ukraine or Gaza due to geopolitical divisions.
After seven years as secretary-general, Guterres faces challenges amid the UN’s declining prestige, especially as the United States, Russia, and China struggle to reach consensus on major and minor conflicts.
Guterres also emphasised the UN’s key role in negotiating solutions to climate change, regulating the digital world, and promoting sustainable development. He has repeatedly argued in recent years that much of the UN’s political ineffectiveness stems from the organisational model created 70 years ago by the victors of World War II.
However, the outdated model failed to take into account modern Africa and the current demographic and economic power of Asia.
He denounced the growing anti-immigration rhetoric seen around the world, even in countries with progressive governments. Without an international consensus recognising that migration was “indispensable” and without policies that encouraged regular migration, the movement of people would be increasingly controlled by smugglers, he added.
Asked about a possible negotiated end to the war in Ukraine and, in particular, whether a peace-for-territories approach could be acceptable, Guterres strongly rejected any changes to Ukraine’s borders.
If we abandon the principle of territorial integrity, the world will descend into chaos.
Guterres pointed to Europe, where numerous ethnic minorities could provoke similar conflicts, recalling the irredentism that fuelled previous wars on the continent, especially in the Balkans.
