Mr. President, Excellencies,

Germany aligns itself with the statement delivered by Liechtenstein on behalf of the group of States committed to the implementation of resolution 76/262, and would like to add the following remarks in its national capacity.

Mr. President,
Four and a half years after its adoption, the veto initiative has become an established and indispensable part of the work of this Assembly. This intiative has brought transparency to where there was little, or even none, and accountability to where it was most needed. The special reports of the Security Council and the participation of the permanent members concerned in our debates, as most recently on 1 October, show that the initiative works. We thank Liechtenstein for its leadership.

Mr. President,

The veto initiative has helped to recalibrate the relationship between the Security Council and the General Assembly. Under Article 24 of the Charter, the Security Council bears the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. Primary, however, does not mean exclusive. As the International Court of Justice confirmed more than six decades ago, the General Assembly, too, has a responsibility in matters of peace and security, and the Charter provides it with the means to exercise it. Where the Council is unable to act because of the veto, the General Assembly cannot confine itself to repeating the Council’s debate. It has the authority, and indeed the duty, to develop its own responses.

Let me give a concrete example. Sanctions decided by the Security Council are binding on all Member States. Their credibility, however, depend on independent monitoring of their implementation. Yet, as we have witnessed, panels of experts can be put on hold by a veto, as happened in 2024 with regard to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and, only weeks ago, with regard to Iran.

Germany, together with partners, had responded by establishing the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team, which continues to report on the implementation of the sanctions against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. This shows that such gaps can be closed.

Mr. President,

In the Pact for the Future, our Heads of State and Government committed to reforming the Security Council and to intensifying efforts to reach agreement on the question of the veto, including on limiting its scope and use. Germany is convinced that the veto must not be used to prevent the Council from acting in the face of mass atrocities. We therefore call on all Member States to support the Code of Conduct of the Accountability, Coherence and Transparency Group and the French-Mexican initiative on veto restraint in situations of mass atrocities.

The veto initiative has shown that reform of the United Nations is possible. Let us build on this success, in the spirit of the commitments we made in the Pact for the Future.

I thank you.