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Kazakhstan elected UN Security Council non-permanent member

UNITED NATIONS, June 28. /TASS/. Kazakhstan has been elected the United Nations Security Council’s non-permanent member for 2017-2018, for the first time in its history.

In the voting at the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, Kazakhstan won support from 138 United Nations member countries and outstripped Thailand which scored 55 votes.

On January 1, 2017, Kazakhstan will replace Malaysia in the United Nations Security Council, which will have three countries of the former Soviet Union, namely Russia, one of the five permanent members, Kazakhstan and Ukraine whose term as a non-permanent member expires at the end of 2017.

Kazakhstan was among the 68 United Nations member countries which have never been represented in the Security Council. Among these countries are Afghanistan, Albania, Georgia, Israel, Cyprus, Kyrgyzstan, North Korea, Moldova, Serbia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Switzerland, and Estonia. Kazakhstan’s rival, Thailand, held non-permanent membership in 1985-1986.

Along with Kazakhstan, Bolivia, Sweden and Ethiopia were also elected non-permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. The fifth vacating seat is vied by Italy and the Netherlands which scored 92 and 99 votes, respectively, in the second round of voting.