UN agrees to veto scrutiny

The 193 members of the United Nations General Assembly adopted by consensus a resolution requiring the five permanent members of the Security Council to justify their use of the veto. The AFP news agency reports, in an article that can be read in full on the News Blog page of the Future Media website, that, first proposed more than two years ago, the measure provides for the General Assembly to be convened within 10 working days after a veto “to hold a debate on the situation as to which the veto was cast”. Almost 100 countries joined Liechtenstein in co-sponsoring the reform, including the United States, Britain and France, but neither Russia nor China were among the sponsors. A diplomat from one of the two countries, who asked not to be named, criticized the move, saying it will “divide” the UN even further.