Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son (C) chair UNSC's open debate on mine action (Photo: VNA) – The themes
and topics chosen by Vietnam during the month it served as President of the United Nations Security
Council in April have received support from the international community.
Ambassador Olof Skoog, Head of the EU Delegation to the
United Nations, hailed the relevance of the major topics that Vietnam picked for April as the UNSC President, especially those related to cooperation
between the UN and regional organisations, reconciliation diplomacy and
confidence-building measures.
According to him, at present, the situation is tense in many
parts of the world, but the UNSC unfortunately has not been able to issue a resolution on every
issue. Therefore, Vietnam's emphasis on trust building is a very
good approach to seek support from other countries in promoting the council’s
agendas.
Ambassador Fatima Kyari Mohammed, Permanent Observer of the
African Union to the UN, also spoke highly of the key topics selected by
Vietnam. According to her, regional organisations are of great importance in
promoting dialogue and reconciliation diplomacy in conflict prevention, as well
as in finding solutions to solve conflicts.
She appreciated Vietnam's promotion of discussions on
strengthening dialogue and conflict settlement through peaceful means, putting
people at the centre, prioritizing humanitarian policies and intensifying
relationships with regional organisations. She stressed that all of these
contents are very consistent with the priorities of the AU, an alliance that
always wants to tightent its cooperation with other regional organisations,
especially ASEAN.
Vietnam chairs meeting to review its Month of UNSC Presidency (Photo: VNA)
Sharing the same view, Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason,
Ireland's Permanent Representative to the UN, said that Ireland acknowledges the
importance of regional organisations and supports the member states of each
regional organisation.
According to her, the April 27 session on the protection of
essential infrastructure in conflicts focused on issues closely related to
human life andVietnam has created its own imprint with the results of this session.
As a new member of the UNSC, Ireland appreciates all three
key topics that Vietnam brought to the discussion in April, she said, adding
that the Irish Foreign Minister had attended all three high-level sessions
chaired by Vietnam, showing that Ireland attaches great importance to Vietnam's Presidency of the UNSC as well as issues of substantial importance that
Vietnam chose to put on table.
The ambassador also said Vietnam has done the right thing when working to connect ASEAN
with the UNSC to solve the Myanmar conflict. ASEAN needs to work closely with the council to find a
solution to the current situation in Myanmar, she added.
The UNSC open debate on mine action under the
chair of Vietnam also won applause from the international community.
Ilene Cohn, Officer-in-Charge of the UN Mine Action Service
(UNMAS), stressed that Vietnam put forward the issue at the right point of
time. She noted that the meeting held great importance since the
UNSC is the body responsible for resolving issues to maintain the world’s peace
and security, adding that when bombs and landmines remain a major threat to people
around the globe, the UNSC should continue to give priority to this issue in its agenda.