Ilona Bērziņa
One of Latvia’s long-term foreign policy goals is being elected to the UN Security Council in 2026-2027. What are our chances against our competitor – Montenegro? What can Latvia give the Security Council, and what can the council give Latvia? How can we curb Russia’s appetite on the use of its veto right and how much can the UN limit this country’s aggression? These and other questions were discussed by BNN and Andrejs Pildegovics, Special Assignments Ambassador – Head of the Secretariat of Latvia’s candidacy to the UN Security Council.
Next year in New York it will be decided if Latvia is elected to the UN Security Council. DO you think we will be able to secure support from two-thirds of UN member states?
I consider Latvia’s chances as good. Our country is visible in UN structures in New York, Geneva, Hague, Rome and Vienna. Latvian diplomats have taken charge over multiple UN processes in the past several years. We are prepared to share the load, financial load included, in many UN processes. Our country’s reputation is sufficiently well-known. Latvia has been a member of the UN since September 1991. We have valuable experience. In November 2023, we commenced a campaign in New York, which was attended by President Edgars Rinkēvičs. This year Latvian Prime Minister Evika Siliņa participated in the biggest gender equality forum in the world – 68th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women. I am optimistic and believe this is an important priority for Latvia. Our contribution to the UN is tangible.
In your interview to the Latvian Herald last year, you said the UN Security Council is a large microphone that allows us to announce our interests and values more loudly. How will Latvia benefit from membership in the UN Security Council? Will it be limited to better recognition of our country and louder expression of our opinions?
It is a microphone or loudspeaker of sorts. We are a small country, we cannot run for a place in the G20 or automatic representation in world-level institutions’ executive bodies. As a member state of the European Union, we participate in many forums. However, the UN Security Forum is one of the biggest forums in international politics. Latvian diplomats and representatives will be able to loudly announce our country’s most important positions and principles 24/7 for two years, representing Latvia, Baltic States, Europe and other democratic and small countries. Of course, this is not the only possibility.
Membership in the UN Security Council under current conditions is also an opportunity to defend Ukraine from Russia’s aggression and focus the UN Security Council’s attention towards Ukraine’s interests and needs. They are very wide and varied. I don’t have a crystal ball to predict what could change in the next two years. But I can definitely say now that every month topics related to Ukraine are regularly put on the table in the UN Security Council – be they Russia’s attacks on civilian infrastructure and nuclear safety, ecological crimes or torture of POWs. In any event – Ukraine will be at the peak of Latvia’s interests.
Membership in the UN Security Council is also an opportunity to reinforce relations with our strategic partners – United States of America, Britain, France. For two years Latvian diplomats will have to work shoulder to shoulder with our allies. The presence of allies in Baltic States, Northern Europe, Central Europe and support for Ukraine are all important to us. Cooperation with our allies in the UN Security Council to address global problems will further strengthen these ties. This diplomatic experience, these contacts are indispensable.
This is also a way to establish contacts with new partners, more far-away countries. For the first thirty years since the restoration of independence, we have been more focused on Northern Europe, Europe, North America, we now plan to be in the same UNSC boat with countries such as Panama from Central America, Liberia in Africa, Bahrain in the Gulf region and others, as these are opportunities for unprecedented close cooperation with emerging countries as well.
The current geopolitical situation is akin to a bomb with lit fuse. Are there any global foreign policy threats that could put an end to Latvia’s ambitions to join the UN Security Council?
I don’t allow for such a possibility. No matter how the war in Ukraine goes, we believe the topic of Ukraine needs to sound loudly in UN and we have to do all we can to help Ukraine defend its freedom and territorial integrity.
Our voice in the UN Security Council is also Europe’s voice. I spent five years in New York as Latvia’s ambassador. I landed this post in 2018, and there were five European countries in the UN Security Council at the time – one-third. Europe’s voice was represented very well. Now, unfortunately, times have changed and the EU Security Council is represented by France, Malta and Slovenia. But I do not expect a scenario that could lead to Latvia saying goodbye to this task. Membership in the UN Security Council is one more contribution into Latvia’s security and defence. It is a channel that can help secure support of other world regions. We’re tried to promote this by defending Ukraine. The six General Assembly resolutions, supported by some 140 countries around the world, include a direct expression of global solidarity towards Ukraine.
Lately the opinion of the UN Security Council and the UN itself being a “toothless” organisation, and Russia, as a permanent member, having the right to veto any resolution has been mentioned multiple times. Is there are way to fight Russia’s right to veto?
I agree, and Latvia has voiced it clearly – Russia’s abusive aggression in Ukraine confirms that Russia’s actions as a permanent member of the UN Security Council are not in line with the principles of the UN Charter. We believe Russia must comply with the order from the International Court and put an end to the aggression. Looking at this general situation, we believe the UN needs to be reformed, and this includes reformation of the UN Security Council. In the UN, Latvia is part of the so-called ACT (accountability, coherence, transparency) group, which makes various proposals to make the UN Security Council more responsible, coordinated and open. Two years ago, together with Lichtenstein and other small countries, we reached a new order that, after each veto from the five permanent Security Council countries, was not swept under the rug. Instead this issue is automatically placed on the agenda of the General Assembly within ten working days. Debates were held nine times, and permanent UN Security Council members have failed to stifle the discussion.
This novelty is no panacea or magic wand, but we still use these improvements to outline the cases when some country represented in the UN Security Council abuses its veto right. Debates and votes have led to both Russia and Belarus losing nearly all votes since the start of the aggression. Neither Russia nor Belarus has been able to take any posts in any UN structure or UN agency. Russia’s isolation is not absolute, but we have accomplished a lot. For example, recently there was a vote in which Albania and Latvia succeeded in preventing Belarus from being elected to the UN body responsible for criminal justice and the fight against crime. Yes, neither NATO, nor the European Union, nor the UN have succeeded in stopping Russian aggression in Ukraine, but nevertheless the overwhelming majority of UN countries have given Russia a clear signal that nuclear threats and the use of weapons of mass destruction in the context of aggression are a red line and should not be tolerated. The war continues, and our diplomatic work continues, but the UN is the platform that can be used to promote Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s peace initiative, peace summit idea. Fights on the battlefield still continue, but battles have to be fought at diplomatic tables as well. The experience of Kuwait after occupation by Iraq in 1991, when the UN was both the first and the last line of defence, was significant. It was at the UN in New York that Kuwait’s ambassador secured the creation of an international coalition to evict the occupiers and restore sovereignty. After the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan, as well as the junta coup in Myanmar, diplomats appointed by democratic governments continued to work at the UN in New York, fighting for a better future for their peoples.
You mentioned the order from the International Court, in which it is stated Russia must end its aggression against Ukraine. However, as we can clearly see – it is being ignored. Do you think it is even possible to achieve in the UN for Russia to take responsibility and be punished with the war crimes it has committed in Ukraine?
Ending impunity is an absolute priority. Latvia has joined the Coalition for Combating Impunity and from the very first day of the invasion we have been trying to use all possible channels – both the International Criminal Court of The Hague and the International Court. Investigators of the Latvian Prosecutor General’s Office have provided support to the Prosecutor of the Criminal Court Karim Han. Latvia has also made contributions to the budget of the International Criminal Court, and last year, under the leadership of the Council of Europe, Latvia also initiated and achieved within a few months the creation of a special register of the damage caused by Russia to the Ukrainian people. Active work continues on the compensation legislation and mechanisms. We have also fought for not only the countries of the Council of Europe to join this mechanism, but also the observer countries – such as Japan, Canada, the United States, and also representatives of the global south, such as Mexico.
The issue of a special tribunal is also an absolute priority for us, because impunity will be eradicated if Russia is to be held fully accountable for all war crimes committed in Ukraine. Therefore, Latvia is also in the nuclear group of this project, the widest, most rational solution is being sought to create an International Special Tribunal that could judge the initiators of aggression and key decision-makers. It is highly important to us for courts and investigations to reach those who committed war crimes – officers, troops and other representatives of Russian armed forces, but also the political elite – the so-called big three. In our opinion, such a process must take place before the end of the war and it is very important that this tribunal is established on a sound legal basis and ideally also supported by the UN. We are actively working on this and I very much hope that this tribunal will be established relatively soon.
If Latvia is elected, what will be the main tasks our country will need to complete in two years?
Our term will be 2026-2027. There is still time to specify our programme, but thematically it will include comprehensive support for Ukraine, topics related to the reinforcement of international law, as well as topics related to the prevention of sexual violence in armed conflicts, because the least protected groups of residents suffer the most in armed conflicts – women and children. Historically, we have also talked a lot at the UN about combating disinformation, and we believe that this phenomenon needs to be further actualized in the work of the UN. Artificial intelligence is another aggravating factor that contributes to the spread of disinformation around the world, so the UN Security Council should also work with the new generation of threats.
Latvian armed forces participate in UN peacekeeping missions. How does this help maintain peace around the world and how – our own national security?
Participation in operations and missions in which Latvia has been participating since 2016 is one of the most visible pieces of evidence of our ability and readiness to take care of international peace and security. Currently Latvia participates in two missions – the UN international operation UNIFIL in Lebanon and UNTSO or “United Nations Truce Supervision Organization” in Jerusalem. Numerically these missions are not large. We have three representatives of our forces in Lebanon and one in Israel. However, Latvia has plans to expand participation in UN peacekeeping missions. Historically we have also participated in the UN stabilisation mission in Mali, but this mission ended after the military coup in Mali.
Cooperation within the UN complements and reinforces the cooperation that we accumulate within NATO or the European Union. As we know, representatives of several other countries operate at our military base in Adaži and elsewhere in the Baltics, and cooperation in UN missions is a continuation of the processes started here. For example, we have troops from Italy’s armed forces, and Latvia commenced cooperation with Italian armed forces in Lebanon. The Italians are with us in the north, we are with them shoulder to shoulder on a difficult mission in the Middle East, where tensions are quite high and where the presence of our soldiers helps to ease the tension.
Of course, there are differences between NATO and UN missions, but this experience is very valuable. Participation in UN missions also requires specific training, but also also expands experience in working with other countries and military personnel.
Nearly a decade ago, in 2015, the UN adopted the resolution “Agenda 2030”, which included 17 sustainable development goals to reduce poverty and hunger in the world. All of those goals seem wonderful on paper, but has there been any real success accomplishing them? How can Latvia help, say, reduce inequality between and within countries or prevent famine in third world countries?
In terms of this Sustainable Development Goals, we are approaching about halfway between 2015 and 2030. There are more than half of the countries where these goals are currently not achieved. The reasons are different – Covid-19 pandemic, climate change, domestic conflicts in the world, bad governance. The Taliban took power in Afghanistan. On the African continent, we saw a whole series of coups where democratically elected governments were overthrown, especially in the Sahel region – Mali, Chad, Sudan, Burkina Faso… There are now tensions in the Middle East in Gaza. There are many such events that hinder the development of the world.
The question is, what to do about it? The UN is one answer. However, it is clear that there are eight billion people in the world and the UN budget is very, very small. If we take the regular and peacekeeping budget, then the regular budget, which is formed from national contributions, is about the amount of the annual budget of the Republic of Latvia. That’s twelve to fourteen billion dollars. Everything else happens only on voluntary contributions from donor countries. Either they are Western developed countries and democracies, or some Asian countries like China, Singapore, the Gulf States. Inequality, the threat of hunger, social issues and challenges are indeed very drastic.
As for Latvia, we cannot cover everything, so we try to specialize in certain topics, including international law. I will mention the Latvian expert Martiņš Paparinskis, who has been elected to the International Law Commission (ILC), a very prestigious forum for global lawyers, and he works in two really responsible groups. One is shaped by international law on immunities and the other is related to sea level rise, climate change. He contributes to the formation of international law on this issue as well. For example, what would happen to a country, with statehood, if it no longer had its own mainland and only sea borders?
Latvia contributes to the development of an inclusive and sustainable business environment in Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe through the strengthening of women’s business skills, as well as by sharing Latvia’s experience in innovation in agriculture, democratic participation and strengthening digitalisation in the public sector. By helping others, we increase the circle of friends and partners of Latvia. As you know, there are never too many friends.
Also read: BNN INTERVIEW | Roberts Blumbergs: Russia doesn’t deserve mercy and understanding
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BNN INTERVIEW | Andrejs Pildegovičs: Latvia’s path to joining UN Security Council; diplomatic fights and strategy
