Switzerland should initiate the abolition of the major powers’ right of veto during its two-year seat on the United Nations Security Council, suggests former State Secretary Michael Ambühl. From January 1, Switzerland will be one of ten non-permanent members of the UN Security Council. It should use this time to propose far-reaching reforms, Ambühl says. In an essay for the SonntagsZeitung, Switzerland’s former chief negotiator with the European Union wants to see nothing less than the abolition of the veto rights of the major powers and a new council composition. Since 1946 the UN Security Council has had five permanent members: China, the US, Russia, France and the UK. Each of these can veto Security Council resolutions and thus prevent their implementation. Ambühl wants to abolish the veto “because it repeatedly paralyses the UN and contradicts its core principle of the sovereign equality of all members”. Even defenders of the UN have trouble claiming that the organisation...
