Irish FM criticizes UNSC, calls it 'dysfunctional', attacks veto power
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The Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin at the Munich Security Conference called out the United Nations Security Council for the lack of action and the increased usage of the veto power to block a ceasefire vote.
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Ireland's Prime Minister Micheal Martin speaks with the media as he arrives for an EU summit in Brussels, Thursday, October 20, 2022. (AP)
The five-state veto power at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has "no place in the 21st century" according to the Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin, who reprimanded the "dysfunctional" UNSC earlier on Saturday.
At the Munich Security Conference in Germany, and in reference to the United States vetoing a ceasefire vote on multiple occasions, Martin said the veto has become "anachronism" that "should go," stressing, "It has no place in the 21st century. It really hasn’t, we really have to keep the pressure on that."
"The veto should go. It's an anachronism, and it has no place in the 21st century. We have to keep the pressure on that."
— Munich Security Conference (@MunSecConf) February 17, 2024
— 🇮🇪 @MichealMartinTD on possible UN Security Council reforms at #MSC2024
"We have no doubt that the Security Council is dysfunctional," Martin further explained, criticizing the "dysfunctionality and the abuse of the veto situation at the Security Council."
He slammed the resolutions on the situation in Gaza as "weak," positing that "there's been more veto than action at the Security Council on Gaza, for example."
Ireland pledges $21.46 mln for UNRWA amid global defunding
In support of the UN Palestinian Refugee Agency (UNRWA), Ireland announced, on February 15, that it will pledge $21.46 million to the agency, and called on countries, including the United States, to resume and increase funding for the agency.
"I urge other donors to resume and expand support to UNRWA so that it can deliver for the millions of Palestinian refugees in need," Ireland's FM said in a statement after meeting UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini in Dublin.
This comes after Lazzarini slammed the calls to dismantle the agency as "short-sighted" amid the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.
Lazzarini also cautioned member states during a meeting in Geneva on Tuesday against the various calls for the dismantling and termination of UNRWA.
"I have warned about the impact, I have said that these calls are short-sighted," he said. "
"There is no other UN agency or international NGOs that have been assigned over the past two decades to deliver services akin to those of a government, such as education for hundreds of thousands of children," he further added.
Lazzarini contended that Israeli statements regarding the former employees of the agency are merely allegations. He emphasized that the Israeli government did not provide any information or evidence regarding the accusations made against the employees.
