Hungary loses UN Security Council seat bid

Hungary lost in the first round of vote for non-permanent membership in the United Nations Security Council. For a seat to be occupied by a country from Eastern Europe, both Azerbaijan and Slovenia gathered more votes than Hungary in the first round.

The UN General Assembly voted this Friday for five non-permanent members of the UN Security Council. The states elected will serve two-year terms from 1 January 2012 through 31 December 2013, overlapping with for one year with Colombia, Germany, India, Portugal and South Africa who were chosen by the Assembly in 2010.

There was one seat available for three regional groups – Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America and the Caribbean – and two for Africa, with one of those reserved for an African Arab state. Three of the five seats were filled on the first ballot, with Guatemala, Morocco, and Pakistan winning easily.

For the Eastern euopean seat, Hungtary received only 52 votes as opposed to Slovenia's 67 and Azerbaijan's 74. A second round was taken to fill this and the non-Arab African seat. For the latter, Togo secured a membership, However, neither Azerbaijam, nor Slovenia managed to win the required two thirds of the votes and a 10th(!) round will take place on Monday.

Hungarian foreign minister János Martonyi said he was not disappointed by the result. He added that Hungary had conducted a positive, ethical and „very-very economical" campaign that started too late.

Since joining the United Nations in 1955, Hungary has had a non-permanent seat in the council in 1968-69 and 1992-93.