Egypt’s foreign minister has called for sweeping reforms to the UN Security Council, saying its current structure no longer reflects today’s realities and perpetuates injustice against Africa, the Arab world, and Islamic countries.
Speaking at the Bled Strategic Forum in Slovenia, Badr Abdelatty said that genuine multilateralism cannot be revived without institutional reform.
“The Security Council and the Bretton Woods institutions (the World Bank and IMF) must be restructured. Without this, talk of global leadership and multilateralism is meaningless,” he told a panel on multilateralism on Tuesday.
Veto power debate
He said it was unacceptable that entire regions remain excluded from permanent representation on the Security Council.
“Granting veto power to just five countries is outdated and undemocratic,” Abdelatty said, adding that either the right should be expanded to new members or abolished altogether.
Abdelatty accused Western governments of applying double standards, pointing to what he described as starkly different reactions to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Israel’s war in Gaza.
