Foreign Minister Stubb: The world now needs a strong UN
On Tuesday, 17 March, Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb opened “The Role of Small States in the United Nations Security Council”, a seminar organised jointly by the Finnish Institute of International Affairs and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. In his address the Foreign Minister discussed why the world needs a strong UN, the problems that face the UN and why Finland should be elected a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the two-year period 2013–2014.
In Foreign Minister Stubb’s view, international politics is now at a crossroads. The end of the Cold War saw the emergence of a unipolar world system, and at present transformation to a multipolar system is clearly underway. The Foreign Minister referred to the many major international meetings to take place in the coming weeks, including the European Council, the meeting of EU Foreign Ministers, the London Summit of the G20, the 60th anniversary celebrations of NATO and the EU–US Summit.
Stubb stated that, as a representative of a small country, he shies away from the nationalistic and protectionist rhetoric that has been heard widely because of the global financial crisis. It is, to him, the wrong response to the situation. Even more than before, the world needs a strong UN.
Today, however, the UN does not function well enough. Since the Cold War, the organisation has not been able to transform as the EU or NATO has. Moreover, the UN is marginalised by formations of country groups, such as G20 or G8. The world organisation, too, must transform. First, the UN Security Council must be renewed, as the many problems associated with it have, in part, led to marginalisation of the UN. Stubb also stressed that the UN must be able to maintain its role as a peacekeeper. UN peacekeeping efforts are extremely broad, but do not achieve all the goals set.
Finland is a candidate for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council for the two-year period 2013–2014. The Foreign Minister based Finland’s candidacy, among other considerations, on Finland’s consistent emphasis on multilateral cooperation. Finland has a good track record in the UN, the OSCE and the EU. As a small country, Finland would be a constructive actor in the Security Council, and through Finland the common voice of the EU would be heard in the Security Council better.
At the seminar, Foreign Minister Stubb announced his appointment of Ambassador Pasi Patokallio as his Special Representative. Ambassador Patokallio will head the task force coordinating Finland’s Security Council campaign.