UNITED NATIONS, January 22. /TASS/. Western countries and their allies often use their so-called hidden veto not to let their opponents score enough votes to pass UUN Security Council resolutions, Russian First Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations Dmitry Polyansky said.
"We insist that another aspect of the veto-related topic be discussed and that is the use by Western countries and their satellites of the so-called ‘hidden veto’ when in many situations they take advantage of their over-representation in the Council not to let their opponents score enough votes to pass a Security Council resolution. We hope that this seamy situation will be corrected in the course of the Security Council reform which is called to expand the representation in the Council of developing countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America," he said at talks on reforming the UN Security Council and issues fair representation.
He also noted that Western countries openly abuse their membership in the UN Security Council and blamed them for the too frequent use of the right to veto. "I am convinced that it is not the veto that is to be criticized but the irresponsible behavior of individual Council members, their unwillingness to listen to and take into account others’ opinions, to look for compromised and balanced decisions," he said. "We are regularly faced with a situation when Western delegations submit for voting unacceptable drafts and they know this. Obviously, this is done solely to make information noise and demonize their opponents. These political manipulators are also responsible for the frequent uses of the right to veto and openly abuse their membership in the Council."
According to Polyansky, once the right to veto is cancelled, " the notorious rule-based world order will come to the fore, which will mean that the influential and noisy minority will be imposing decisions on maintaining international peace and security on the silent majority."
The Russian diplomat condemned initiatives geared to restrict or annul the right to veto as an attempt to undermine the Security Council’s work. "We call on our colleagues to focus on realistic and very important tasks, such as strengthening the role of the global South in the Security Council," he added.