Malta has secured a place as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for the next two years. Thus, Malta will now sit with nine other non-permanent members and five permanent members at one of the UN’s most important organs.
This allows Malta to be on the decision-making table when discussing international security, peace and stability.
It will be a challenging period due to the ever-evolving situation in Ukraine, Russia’s involvement and other tensions that may arise in different parts of the globe in the forthcoming two years.
As a member of the Security Council, Malta can table resolutions as well as take part in security briefings. Moreover, for one month during its tenure, Malta will also hold the presidency of the United Nations Security Council.
This allows Malta to coordinate the agenda of the council as well as act as an intermediary in policy disputes.
Malta will be in an advantageous position to follow the developing international situation and participate in the unfolding debates.
Nonetheless, the veto will hamper its influence since the five permanent members can wield it on any resolution. As a result, this veto often reduces the United Nations to nothing more than a talking shop, albeit an influential one.
Foreign Minister Ian Borg has listed Malta’s priorities for this tenure.
They include the promotion of political consensus, children in armed conflict as well as the impact of climate change and literacy on international peace and security.
Moreover, Malta also intends to highlight the link between women, peace and the security agenda.
This is, indeed, a very ambitious and forward-looking agenda. In addition, they are also issues over which some consensus can be reached. Other, more contentious issues could be problematic. As the war in Ukraine shows, international fora are important and helpful in highlighting specific issues but their effectiveness may be limited.
Malta is also fortunate to have a permanent representative at the United Nations, Vanessa Frazier, who is a career diplomat and has ample experience and foresight to succeed in this.
As a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, Malta has the opportunity to present its chosen themes with a particular slant.
Firstly, it can present the view of a small state – and a small island state – and highlight the specific concerns of peace and security that affect such polities. Small island states tend to be sidelined in the decision-making process, yet, they tend to be affected excessively by events. For example, climate change threatens the very existence of such countries, particularly low-lying islands in the Pacific Ocean.
In other instances, conflict tends to cause additional problems in such states since supply chains are disproportionally affected by rises in fuel prices and the closure of sea routes. These security issues affect the entire world but will be acutely felt in small island states.
Secondly, Malta is a state at the periphery of a continent.
Yet, once again, its peripheral status does not mean that it is immune to challenges that can threaten peace and security.
On the contrary, the periphery can be where threats to peace and security emerge and where they can go undetected for several years.
Malta’s tenure coincides with a tumultuous period in world affairs. Though the veto weakens the influence of the United Nations Security Council, Malta has the opportunity to raise such concerns and make its mark in the debate on peace and security.