Germany urges ‘sweeping reforms’ to UN Security Council

BERLIN

Germany on Friday called for "sweeping reforms" to the UN Security Council to reflect the global political realities of the 21st century.

"The Security Council must reflect the world of the 21st century and not that of the immediate post-war period after 1945. That's why we will work very hard to ensure that the Global South in particular is given a much stronger role there," Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul told German press agency DPA.

The German government believes the body needs thorough reforms, he added.

Wadephul did stress that in principle, Germany is an advocate of the UN system and "will not withdraw as others have done,” evidently alluding to the US pulling back from UN agencies and flouting the body.

In November, on the sidelines of an EU-Africa summit in Angola, Chancellor Friedrich Merz supported calls for two permanent African seats on the Security Council.

Europe and Africa together have more than 40% of all votes in the UN, he said, adding: "Together we carry a lot of weight. But to achieve this (reform), Africa must also be better represented internationally, in line with the weight of this continent.”

Germany is running for one of the non-permanent seats on the UN Security Council in June 2026 for the years 2027-2028.

The council is made up of 15 of the 193 UN member states. Five nuclear powers and victors of World War II are permanent members and have veto rights: the US, China, Russia, Great Britain, and France.

Some of the other 188 member states take turns in the remaining 10 seats every two years.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for years has also championed similar UN reforms.