Crown Prince Haakon of Norway has participated in a digital meeting with the team that will lead the Norwegian efforts in the United Nations Security Council for the next two years. From the Skaugum Estate in Norway, Crown Prince Haakon attended the digital meeting on January 6th 2021 with the Norwegian UN team in New York and Foreign Minister, Ine Eriksen Søreide, in Oslo. Earlier in the day, the Foreign Minister had made her first speech to the Security Council.
In the meeting His Royal Highness said: “I hope you are ready for the tasks that await you. Now the real work begins. International cooperation is important, and through the United Nations, we have the opportunity to find solutions that make people’s lives better. In addition, for the UN to function, the countries that believe in the organization must take their share of the work. Norway is ready to do that now.”
The Security Council is the UN’s supreme body for international peace, stability and security. Through the UN Charter, the Security Council has the power to impose sanctions or military action, and all 193 UN member states must comply with the Council’s decisions.
Crown Prince Haakon has really committed himself to Norway becoming part of the Security Council with the place being won in 2020. Norway’s campaign for a seat on the Security Council was launched in New York on 22 June 2018 by His Royal Highness. Last summer, Crown Prince Haakon, together with Ine Eriksen Søreide and Norway’s UN Ambassador, Mona Juul, attended a digital reception attended by over 190 UN ambassadors from around the world. This was part of the end of the campaign, which ended with Norway and Ireland being elected to sit on the Security Council for the next two years.
The UN Security Council has 15 members, five permanent and ten countries elected by the UN General Assembly for two years at a time. Norway has been a member of the Security Council four times before. The last time Norway had a place was in the period 2001-2002. Mona Juul will lead the Norwegian UN effort from New York.
