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UNSC panel to convene in April to consider Palestine’s bid to join UN

In 2011, Palestine already applied for permanent UN membership, but it later decided to remain a permanent observer for some time

UNITED NATIONS, April 8. /TASS/. The UN Security Council has decided that its committee for accepting new UN members will convene in April to consider Palestine’s application to join, said Vanessa Frazier, a Maltese envoy to the UN.

Malta holds the rotating UNSC presidency this month. Frazier made the remarks following the Security Council’s closed-door consultations on the Palestinian bid.

"So we have agreed that <…> the committee has to deliberate within the month of April. And we all recognize that any member of the council may decide to present their solution for membership," she said.

Palestine now is a permanent observer to the UN. In 2011, Palestine already applied for permanent UN membership, but it later decided to remain a permanent observer for some time. In April, Palestine sent a letter to the UN Security Council with a request to resume consideration of its bid to join the UN as a permanent member. Countries with this status can attend most meetings and have access to almost all relevant documentation, but have no voting rights. Apart from Palestine, only the Holy See, or the Vatican, has permanent observer status at the UN.

Countries are admitted to the UN by a decision of the organization’s General Assembly on the recommendation of the Security Council. The Security Council grants a recommendation if nine out of its 15 members vote in favor of the country’s application, provided that none of the council’s permanent members -the UK, China, Russia, US and France - vote against it. The application then must collect two-thirds of the vote at the UN General Assembly.

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United Nations Palestine

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