- Статьи
- World
- Special opinion: Moscow may support the future UN Secretary General not from Latin America
Special opinion: Moscow may support the future UN Secretary General not from Latin America
All candidates for the post of UN Secretary General, even the leaders of the list, face a significant number of votes against. At the same time, Moscow advocates the principle of geographical rotation and the support of Latin American candidates. However, in case of an impasse, Russia is ready to consider representatives of other regions, the Russian Foreign Ministry told Izvestia. Representatives of Europe may be among the possible candidates, but none of them has been officially nominated yet. The media is discussing the possible participation of former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. OSCE Secretary General Feridun Sinirlioglu will join the selection process in the next round. Whether the UN will have time to agree on a candidate by the end of the year is in the Izvestia article.
Voting for the new UN Secretary General
The election of the UN Secretary-General reached an impasse after the seventh closed round of voting in the Security Council, held on October 30. The results have already been leaked online: the members of the Security Council cannot agree on a candidate who will not be vetoed by the permanent members of the Council. Eight people are running to succeed Antonio Guterres. Among them are Secretary General of UNCTAD Rebecca Greenspan from Costa Rica, Permanent Representative of Guyana Carolyn Rodriguez—Birkett and IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi. Ecuador's former Foreign Minister Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces and former Ambassador to the United States Yvonne A-Baki also nominated themselves from Latin America.
According to unofficial tradition, the turn to head the UN has passed to representatives of this region, from which more candidates are represented. But even the leaders of the list received an "anti-voice," so the Security Council never reached a consensus. Alexander Alimov, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, told Izvestia about this.
— There is no single candidate, as before. Everyone, even the leaders of the list, still has a significant number of votes against," the diplomat noted.
He emphasizes that Moscow supports the principle of informal geographical rotation, but the lack of consensus may force other candidates to be considered, that is, not from Latin America.
"If the possibilities of candidates representing this region are insufficient for any of them to be elected, then Moscow is ready to consider candidates from other regions,— Alexander Alimov said.
The Security Council held the last vote on single-color ballots due to the entry of a new candidate into the race, former UAE Ambassador Lana Nusseibeh. Prior to this, the Council members used "color" voting, where the ballots of the permanent participating countries were allocated separately due to the potential right of veto. The deadlock persisted, as even on single-color forms, all the candidates received many votes against. For example, Yvonne A-Baki from Ecuador collected 14 negative votes out of a possible 15.
On October 31, Turkey put forward its candidate. Thus, OSCE Secretary General Feridun Sinirlioglu will participate in the next round. The media is actively discussing a very unexpected option with former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, given that Guterres also represents Europe. Alimov previously noted that this is technically possible.
— When candidates appear, they will be considered. Now there are various information stuffing about possible candidates from the European region, including. But none of them has been officially nominated yet," the Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation drew attention.
At the same time, the date of the next round has not yet been agreed, the Russian permanent Mission to the United Nations told Izvestia. "Consultations and closed—door negotiations on the future voting schedule are currently underway," they said.
The diplomats noted that Russia has so far refrained from evaluating candidates in order not to influence the voting process, but now "the most interesting stage is coming."
Which candidate would be beneficial to Russia
Despite the fact that Orban is considered a politician loyal to Moscow, during his premiership Budapest nevertheless supported all packages of anti–Russian sanctions, said Viktor Kheifets, a professor at St. Petersburg State University and a member of the BRICS-Russia Expert Council. According to him, any European representative will have to take into account the aggressive position of the EU towards Russia, which is proved by the example of Antonio Guterres. When the former Portuguese prime minister was running for his first term in 2016, Russia did not block his candidacy because of Lisbon's balanced position and Guterres' reputation after 10 years at the head of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. However, after 2022, under enormous pressure from the United States and the EU, his position shifted sharply towards the Western mainstream.
At press conferences following the UNGA High-level Week in September, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov bluntly stated that the secretariat and Guterres personally did not comply with the key provisions of the UN Charter on neutrality. According to the minister, the current leadership of the organization promotes "biased approaches and double standards, actually serving the interests of Western countries."
Former Hungarian President Viktor Orban
The probability of Orban's nomination is minimal, according to Anastasia Gavrilova, a specialist in international relations at the Higher School of Economics. Budapest was regularly criticized in the West for using its veto power to bargain over aid to Kiev: Hungary blocked the allocation of €50 billion to Ukraine, opposed the purchase of weapons with proceeds from frozen Russian assets, and slowed down negotiations on the union's accession to the EU. The situation was aggravated by Orban's "peace mission" in 2024, when he visited Russia, China and the United States without the consent of Brussels. The EU leadership regarded this as arbitrariness and playing up to Western opponents, so Gavrilova stressed that if Orban were to be nominated for the post of UN Secretary General, France and the United Kingdom would be guaranteed to block him.
Kheifets added that Russia is also not ready to rely on Sinirlioglu because of the difficult relations with the OSCE. Although the organization served as a unique platform for dialogue between East and West during the Cold War, in recent years it has completely lost its neutrality and, according to the Russian Federation, serves the interests of NATO and the EU. The leadership of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly consistently adopted anti-Russian resolutions and imposed a visa blockade, refusing to allow Russian delegates to attend the meetings. Because of this, in July 2024, the Russian Federation suspended its participation in the OSCE PA and froze contributions. In addition, Moscow points out that the structure systematically turns a blind eye to discrimination against Russian-speaking citizens in the Baltic States and Ukraine.
The other candidates also look ambiguous, Heifetz added. For example, Greenspan has visited Russia more than once, including the SPIEF in 2026, but this does not negate her close ties with the United States. In addition, in 2014, it was Costa Rica that co-sponsored the UN General Assembly's anti-Russian resolution declaring the Crimean referendum illegal. A similar situation is developing around Grossi: on the one hand, he maintains good working relations with Moscow, on the other, he represents Argentina, which largely focuses on Washington. No matter what personal position Grossi holds, he remains a representative of his country, Heifetz concluded.
Latin American countries may perceive the election of a candidate from another region as a violation of the principle of geographical representation, Gavrilova added. The appointment of an alternative figure risks sparking arguments about the balance of power in decision-making within the UN. To avoid disagreements, the States of the region may require the post of First Deputy Secretary General and the redistribution of quotas to senior positions in the Secretariat. Otherwise, the decline in confidence in the United Nations will push Latin America and the Global South in general to participate even more actively in alternative formats, such as BRICS, Gavrilova concluded.
According to the rules and resolutions of the General Assembly, the Security Council must approve a single candidate by the end of December 2026. In the history of the United Nations, the Security Council has never disrupted elections. However, the deadline is only two months away, so a deadlock scenario is also possible.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
