Spanish prime minister calls for UN Security Council reform, condemns Gaza genocide

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called Wednesday for reforming the UN Security Council to ensure fair representation for all regions and abolishing the veto power held by its permanent members.

“We need to reform the Security Council so that all of the regions in the world have fair representation, and so that we can do away with the right of veto of the permanent members,” Sanchez said, addressing the UN General Assembly.

Because as the UN Charter sets out, “no country should be a judge in its own case, no matter how powerful they are,” he added.

He warned that the principles underpinning the international system were increasingly being challenged.

Peace, sustainability and equal opportunities are “being attacked” by political actors and governments seeking to take the world back to a “dark past,” he said.

“I don’t need to point them out. We all know who they are and what their modus operandi is.”

Sanchez also outlined Spain’s actions in response to conflicts, saying Madrid had done “everything possible” to oppose actions running counter to the UN Charter.

He cited sanctions against Russia as well as an arms embargo on the Israeli government.

He also reiterated Spain’s “unequivocal” condemnation of the “genocide that (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu is still perpetrating in Gaza.”

Sanchez argued that multilateralism remains the best way to manage global interdependence and called for renewed trust in the UN and efforts to strengthen the organization.