UNITED NATIONS: The United States is calculatedly trying to undermine Asia’s claims for the job of UN secretary-general by promoting an Eastern European candidate for the post, which falls vacant by the end of this year. US Ambassador John Bolton has publicly hinted the job should perhaps go to an Eastern European, although “Eastern Europe” has virtually ceased to exist as a geographical entity in the post-Cold War era.
“If there’s really a principle of geographic rotation, fairness indicates that Eastern Europe get one,” he told a US news magazine last month. “Asia has already had a secretary-general. When does Eastern Europe get its turn?” he asked in another newspaper interview.
Under the United Nations Charter, the secretary-general is appointed by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the Security Council. One possible candidate being put forth is the former Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski, described as “a White House favourite” for supporting the Iraq invasion with a contingent of about 1,450 Polish troops.
The troops, who are part of the US-led coalition in Iraq, are expected to continue deployment through 2006 and beyond.
The administration of US President George W. Bush has publicly expressed its gratitude to Kwasniewski for the “valued” Polish contribution. “It’s payoff time,” retorts an Asian diplomat who is promoting his own region’s candidacy. As a geographical group, Eastern Europe exists only at the United Nations, he said, adding that, “They are probably interested in surviving as a single entity until they get the job of secretary-general.”
Traditionally, there have been five regional groups at the United Nations: the Asian Group, the African Group, the Eastern European Group, the Latin American and Caribbean Group and the Western European and Other States, (the latter includes the United States, Australia and New Zealand).
The 20 members of the Eastern European Group include: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Georgia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovakia, Slovenia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Ukraine. Of the 20, seven joined the European Union (EU) in 2004: the Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. Bulgaria and Romania are expected to join the EU in January 2007 and Croatia in 2010, as the Eastern European group continues to dwindle.
“Bolton’s sudden solicitude for Eastern Europe is totally ad hominem, based on his support for the Pole. He is likely to lose on both counts,” predicts Ian Williams, a sharp-eyed UN correspondent. “The East European bloc is a total Cold War anomaly, and with most of its members in the European Union, or trying to get in, it should be folded into the UN’s Western European Group immediately,” Williams told IPS. More to the point, said Williams, is that the Chinese will almost certainly veto anyone who is not an Asian, while the Russians would veto any Pole who has been so resolutely anti-Russian as Bolton’s candidate.
“In fact, one cannot help but suspect that Bolton’s endorsement would be the kiss of death for any candidate, Polish or Asian, or at least that it would lead to, shall we say, strictly dimi-nished enthusiasm from most other states,” Williams added.
