Mr President,

Germany aligns itself with the statement delivered by Liechtenstein on behalf of a group of countries. In addition, I would like to underscore the following points in my national capacity.

In the past 3 1/2 years, the Veto-Initiative has been transformative. Transformative in re-calibrating and even re-aligning the sensitive balance between the Security Council and the General Assembly especially in the area of peace and security. The Veto Initiative has contributed to more transparency and accountability; and a call we have jointly recommitted to in the Resolution 79/327 on the Revitalization of the General Assembly.

Germany is convinced that even more can and must be done:
We can go beyond the Veto-Initiative. The General Assembly does not need to limit itself to repeat the debate of the Council. It has the power to develop its own responses to questions of peace and security. And that is especially true in cases where the Security Council is gridlocked. And it has a large variety of instruments to do so – as laid out in the digital handbook “Assembly for Peace”. And frankly, in our view, it is also the duty of the General Assembly as the chief deliberative, policymaking and representative body of the United Nations.

I would like to underline our view that it is of critical importance to address the question of the veto also in the context of Security Council reform, which was also highlighted in the Pact for the Future. Limiting both the scope and the use of the veto, in our view, is essential to create a more inclusive, transparent and responsive Security Council.

Germany is a strong advocate for restraint in the exercise of the veto, particularly in cases involving mass atrocities and war crimes, in order to prioritize the protection of civilians in conflict situations. We call upon all Member States to support the ACT Code of Conduct and the French-Mexican Initiative on veto restraint.

Mr President,

The Veto-Initiative shows: reforms in the United Nations are possible. And in this vein, I would like to stress that we strongly support the UN80 reform initiative that needs to be a success for the UN to remain fit for purpose.

Germany stands ready to work with all Member States on these reforms. And we also stand ready to finally make substantive steps towards the reform of the Security Council. Germany has consistently advocated for an accountable and transparent Security Council and will continue to do so. In that particular regard, I would like to stress that we agree with the Permanent Representative of Liechtenstein and others that we need to make progress in implementing Art. 27 3) of the UN Charter that states, in essence, that no State should be a “judge in its own cause”. This commitment is yet to be committed to, and finally carried out.

Thank you very much.