Algeria, South Korea, Slovenia elected to UN Security Council

Algeria, Guyana, Sierra Leone and South Korea on Tuesday were elected unopposed to the United Nations Security Council as non-permanent members, while Slovenia won the fifth open seat by soundly besting Belarus.

The Security Council is made up of 15 member states -- five permanent veto-wielding countries (Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States) and 10 others who serve two-year terms. Each year, five of those spots are up for grabs.

The 10 non-permanent seats are allocated to represent all regions equally.

In a secret ballot in the world body’s General Assembly, Slovenia -- which was competing with Belarus for the seat reserved for eastern Europe -- won by a vote count of 153-38.

“Today’s General Assembly vote shows why competition in UN elections is essential,” said Louis Charbonneau, the UN director at Human Rights Watch.

“UN member states doubtlessly decided that Belarus’ grave human rights abuses at home and whitewashing of Russian atrocities in Ukraine disqualify it from serving on the Security Council, a crucial body for safeguarding human rights.”

Algeria and Sierra Leone will represent Africa, South Korea won the Asia-Pacific seat, and Guyana won a seat reserved for Latin America and the Caribbean.

The five new council members will replace Albania, Brazil, Gabon, Ghana and the United Arab Emirates for a two-year term beginning on 1 January, 2024.