Malta, Switzerland current role in UN

New York, The Gulf Observer: Malta and Switzerland the EU’s smallest Member State, and Europe’s most neutral nation, are set to play outsized roles in world events over the next two years, as Malta and Switzerland begin their term as non-permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.

Apart from France and the United Kingdom — which are two of the five permanent member of the council, with their own veto votes — Malta and Switzerland are carrying the mantle for Western Europe, and taking the lead on some potentially incendiary subjects. So are they up to the task of networking, strategising, hustling, and delivering clout on the Council, for Europe?

Switzerland in particular will have to put aside its traditional neutrality and make some decidedly un-neutral decisions during the next few years, but they’ve found a workaround to this.

The Swiss — who only became a member of the United Nations in 2002 — say their four main priorities while on the Security Council are to promote sustainable peace, protect civilians, strengthen efficiency, and tackle climate change.

“The Security Council is not a party to a conflict in the sense of neutrality law. Its mandate is to maintain peace and security worldwide” the Swiss Department of Foreign Affairs said in a recent briefing paper.

“Switzerland can continue to exercise its neutrality on the Security Council to the full extent.”

Richard Gowan, Director of UN affairs at the International Crisis Group think tank in New York says that any angst about Switzerland’s neutrality is more of an internal Swiss question — it’s been a major talking point in Swiss media this week — than something that concerns other countries in New York, where it’s viewed as one of the main representatives of Western Europe with specific diplomatic competences to bring to the table.

“I think both Malta and Switzerland will carry a heavy burden of responsibility in the Council. There is an expectation that the two elected Western European members of the body should manage some tricky files that other members would prefer to avoid,” says Gowan.

The EU’s smallest Member State, Malta, is returning as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the second time — their only other time was back in the early 1980s — but they’re seemingly unphased by what lies ahead.

“Malta recognises that the primary duty of all Council Members is to work collectively to promote international peace and security and to prevent conflict, which is all too present around the world — in Ukraine, and elsewhere,” says Rodrick Zerafa from Malta’s Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs.

The Mediterranean country wants their time on the Council to shine a spotlight on eradicating the use of children in armed conflict; promoting literacy and rights of women; and increasing knowledge of rising sea levels which threatens a number of small island states around the world, including Malta.