ASTANA (TCA) — The national flag of Kazakhstan was raised in a special ceremony in front of the hall of the UN Security Council at the United Nations in New York on December 31, 2016 as the country has become a non-permanent Security Council member starting from January 1, 2017, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan said.
Other newly elected non-permanent Security Council members are Bolivia, Italy, Sweden and Ethiopia. Kazakhstan and these countries replaced, respectively, Malaysia, Venezuela, Spain, New Zealand and Angola. The ceremony marked the start of the work of the five new non-permanent members on the Security Council.
The convincing win in the election campaign for the post of a non-permanent member of the Security Council for 2017-2018 from the Asia-Pacific Group became the main foreign policy outcome for Kazakhstan in 2016, the foreign ministry said, adding that Kazakhstan has become the first in Central Asia to be elected to this important global political body.
In accordance with the UN Charter, the Security Council is one of the principal organs of the Organization, whose decisions are legally binding. In order to ensure prompt and effective action of the United Nations, its Member States have conferred on the Security Council primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security, and have agreed that in carrying out its duties under this responsibility, the Council acts on their behalf.
The first calendar meeting of the UN Security Council in 2017 is scheduled for January 3, while the powers of Kazakhstan as a non-permanent member of the Council started on January 1, 2017.
