Security Council

The climate crisis has been in the spotlight of the first day of the 12th Africa Day international conference at Brdo pri Kranju. Promoting its bid for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council, Slovenia said that, if elected, it would aim to step up climate security, as African officials urged global action against climate change.

Greece and Turkey can develop a "harmonious and mutually beneficial relationship" provided there is "mutual respect and trust," Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias said in an interview published in the Sunday edition of newspaper Makedonia.

Russia's U.N. ambassador on Monday dismissed U.S. and European Union descriptions of its presidency of the Security Council this month as an April Fool's joke and announced a meeting to be chaired by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on defending the principles of the U.N. Charter, which Moscow is widely accused of breaking by invading Ukraine.

Day 402 of the invasion of Ukraine. Summary of key events in the last 24 hours:

In accordance with the regular rotation, Russia will begin presiding over this UN body in April, and as announced by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the first session under Russian leadership will be chaired by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Nicosia says a new effort by Greece and Turkey to improve their relations is positive, but Greek Cypriot officials have been less excited about Athens and Ankara supporting each other's bids in the United Nations.

President Maia Sandu said on Monday evening after a meeting of Moldova's Supreme Security Council that a new Anti-Corruption Court will be operational within three months at most and will hear cases of crime within the judicial system as well as major corruption cases.

Myanmar's junta on Tuesday said the country had "not returned to normalcy" almost two years after its coup, casting doubt over plans for elections and ending a state of emergency.

The Southeast Asian country has been in turmoil since the military toppled democracy figurehead Aung San Suu Kyi's civilian government, alleging massive fraud during elections her party won in 2020.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry has criticized a decision of the United Nation's Security Council of extending the mandate of the global body's peacekeeping force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) for one year rather than six months as it extends every year, saying that it disregards Turkish Cyprus' will and insists on models that have already been tried and failed.

Greek Cypriots want UN reports on the Cyprus problem to continue ever six months, but sources say the Security Council is leaning towards an annual extension at least for the peacekeeping force mandate following "no meaningful progress" on the issue.