The Egyptian Foreign Minister attacks the Security Council: "The veto monopoly is an obstacle to plurality and international justice."

The Egyptian Foreign Minister, Badr Abdel Atti, called on Tuesday for "reforms in the United Nations Security Council that ensure fair representation for other countries," during a panel discussion titled: "Reviving Leadership and Multilateralism in an Era of Conflicts and Fragmentation" held as part of the "Bled" Forum taking place in Slovenia.

Abdel Atti stated, "We must revive multilateralism, and this will not happen without taking certain measures," adding: "First, we must reform the Security Council and the Bretton Woods institutions (the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank), and without that, we cannot talk about reviving multilateralism and global leadership."

In the same context, he emphasized that "the African continent and the Arab and Islamic worlds should not be ignored in any real representation in the Security Council," also noting that "this neglect is unacceptable and constitutes an obstacle to reviving multilateralism."

"We must reform the Security Council and there should be better representation for Arab, African, and Islamic countries," the Egyptian Foreign Minister continued, stressing that "granting veto power in the Security Council to only five countries is no longer valid."

He went on to say: "This right should be granted to new members or denied to all countries, and there should be more democracy," emphasizing the importance of maintaining the principle of shared ownership of international decisions and achieving equality.

Additionally, Abdel Atti pointed out Egypt's commitment to the "Azulwini" consensus for reforming the Security Council in order to address what he described as "the historical injustice faced by the African continent."

It is worth noting that the "Bled" Forum began last Monday and will continue for two days, and is considered an annual international platform that brings together political leaders, experts, and representatives from international organizations to discuss issues of security, peace, and development in Europe and the world.

The "Azulwini" consensus is a unified African position regarding Security Council reform adopted by the member states of the African Union at the Addis Ababa Summit in 2005.

The consensus calls for granting Africa two permanent seats on the council with veto power and five non-permanent seats, with the African Union being the body authorized to select the members, according to the United Nations website.

In a related context, Abdel Atti criticized what he described as "double standards in the West regarding the stance on Russia's war on Ukraine and the Israeli genocide in the Gaza Strip," adding: "Listen to everyone in the West talk about occupation.

But when it comes to the besieged Gaza Strip and our region, you know that everyone does not show the same interest."

The Egyptian Foreign Minister continued, stating that "this is a disgrace to the West and humanity," while simultaneously calling on the international community to reject the genocide against the entire besieged Gaza Strip.

With U.S. support, the occupying state of Israel has been committing genocide against the besieged Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, resulting in nearly 63,633 martyrs and 160,914 injured Palestinians, most of whom are children and women, over 9,000 missing, and hundreds of thousands displaced, with famine killing 361 Palestinians, including 130 children.