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US rebuffs German bid for UN Security Council seat
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-06-09 18:45
WASHINGTON - The United States has again rebuffed Germany's bid to become a
permanent member of the UN Security Council, arguing that the expansion of the
council is not its top UN reform priority, The New York Times said.
The
message was conveyed by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice when she met
Wednesday in Washington with visiting German Foreign Minister, Joschka Fischer,
US and European officials told the daily.
They said other UN reforms such as streamlining management were more
important than the expansion of the UN Security Council from 15 to 25 members,
as proposed by Germany, Japan, India and Brazil, which seek permanent,
veto-wielding positions on the council.
German officials said Rice had told Fischer that her government was not
opposing Germany's effort to join the council per se, but that it was wary of
expanding the council.
"We were given to understand by the United States that their concerns about
this procedure are not motivated by any anti-German considerations," said
Wolfgang Ischinger, the German ambassador to the United States, who was at the
meeting with Fischer. "She made that clear."
However, several other European and Asian diplomats who asked to remain
anonymous, said a factor in the US position on Security Council expansion was
its continuing distrust of German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, who campaigned
for re-election against the war in Iraq in 2002, and at the United Nations a
year later.
A top European diplomat said US opposition to the UN bid was rankling Germany
and could make it more difficult to work with Germany and other nations on such
issues as preventing Iran's alleged nuclear weapons program.
Before his meeting with Rice, Fischer was asked about his chances of getting
US support for Germany's UN Security Council bid. "We are trying our very best,"
he replied.
The four countries seeking permanent seats on the UN Security Council have
proposed foregoing their veto rights for 15 years if they are accepted,
according to a draft proposal made public Wednesday at the United Nations, in
New York City.
The Security Council currently has five members with the right to veto --
China, the United States, France, Britain and Russia -- as well as 10
non-permanent members.
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