France calls for UNSC expansion

The French president has called for the enlargement of the UN Security Council (UNSC), saying one or more permanent seats should be granted to African countries.

Nicolas Sarkozy made the remark at the 16th summit of Heads of State and Government of the African Union, which kicked off in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, on Sunday.

“I have long been convinced that Africa does not have the place it deserves in world governance,” AFP quoted him as saying in his address to African Union leaders.

He urged the UN to take steps in order to include one or more permanent African members into the Security Council in 2011.

The 15-member UNSC comprises of five veto-wielding permanent members — China, France, Russia, Britain, the US — and 10 elected non-permanent members with two-year terms.

In a meeting with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and President of the 65th UN General Assembly Joseph Deiss, Sarkozy also highlighted the significance of early reforms within the UNSC, saying the reform of the Security Council should be implemented “as early as this year.”

Elsewhere in his remarks, he praised the economic growth achieved by Africa between 1995 and 2008.

Meanwhile, Deiss echoed the French president’s call for expansion of the UNSC and said the body “can better reflect the new world order” if expanded.

In an indirect reference to the G20 group of the world’s most powerful economies, he also said that the UN has become “marginalized by the emergence of other actors.”