Slovenia elected to UN Economic and Social Council

New York – The UN General Assembly elected Slovenia with 176 votes to the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), one of the six principal bodies of the United Nations, responsible for coordinating the economic and social policies of the organisation.

Slovenia announced its candidacy for the ECOSOC for the 2023-2025 period five years ago, in what was the country’s first candidacy for the rotating membership of 54 UN member states.

The Slovenian mission to the UN said that Slovenia was actively engaged in the fields of work covered by the ECOSOC, which is charge of all three dimensions of sustainable development and the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

“Membership in the ECOSOC will further strengthen Slovenia’s activities through the transfer of our experience in implementing the sustainable development goals, where Slovenia regularly ranks among the top 15 countries,” said Ambassador Boštjan Malovrh.

Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon welcomed the election to ECOSOC on Twitter, declaring it “an important victory for Slovenia” and expressing her “congratulations and thanks to the colleagues at the Foreign Ministry for the work they have done”.

Also elected in the first round was Slovakia, which received 173 votes. Russia, on the other hand, did not manage to get voted in as part of the Eastern European Group, receiving 118 out of the 192 votes, ten short of the required number.

Voting for the third vacant seat of the Eastern European Group thus continues. Russia did not get the required majority in the second round either, and after the 4th round, another candidate can officially apply, with North Macedonia being one of them.

While three countries ran for the three vacancies, the Western countries in the UN had launched a campaign against electing Russia in the ECOSOC over its attack on Ukraine.

Nevertheless, Russia’s difficulties with being elected are surprising given that the vote is secret and countries do not need to expose themselves with public voting.

Slovenia is also running for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council for the period from the beginning of 2024 to the end of 2025.

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