Poland elected to UN Security Council

Poland, along with Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Kuwait, Peru were elected to the UN Security Council for a two-year term starting from January 1, 2018. Poland, who like the other selected nations run unopposed and got 190 votes in the 193-member General Assembly. The council is made up of 10 elected members, five voted on each year and five permanent veto-powers: the US, the UK, France, China and Russia. The council is the only UN body that can make legally binding decisions and has the power to impose sanctions and authorize the use of force. To ensure geographical representation on the Council, there are five seats apportioned for African and Asian states; one for Eastern European states; two for the Latin American and Caribbean states and two for Western European and other states. Regional groups generally agree upon the candidates to put forward and competitive races for seats are increasingly rare. Poland has been a Security Council member five times so far, last time in 1996-97.