The corona pandemic needs a global response - but the UN Security Council has been inactive so far. This could also be due to a planned high-level meeting of the veto powers.
New York (dpa) - On Thursday, the UN Security Council plans to address the effects of the crisis on international security for the first time since the outbreak of the corona pandemic.
UN Secretary General António Guterres is to brief the 15 members of the situation in a virtual meeting that is not open to the public. This was announced by the Dominican Republic, which currently holds the presidency of the most important UN body, on Monday evening.
Criticism was recently raised about the apparent standstill in the Security Council, which has so far found no common stance on the impact of the Corona crisis on international security. Louis Charbonneau of Human Rights Watch told the New York Times that the already divided Security Council had "completely disappeared" in the crisis.
A united approach by the Council would also be important for the United Nations' plans to combat the virus with an internationally uniform strategy. UN chief Guterres, who had described the pandemic as the greatest challenge since World War II, recently showed displeasure with the sluggish global approach.
The Thursday meeting would be the first since the crisis broke out that has brought about drastic changes worldwide. According to dpa information, it goes back on request from Germany and eight other elected councilors. Diplomats reported that China, in particular, appeared to be skeptical of a meeting, leading the fear of possible blame for Beijing. US President Donald Trump has repeatedly spoken of a "Chinese virus".
Yet another meeting could have led to the postponement of a Security Council meeting. According to dpa information, the permanent members of the USA, China, Russia, Great Britain and France have been planning their own summit of their heads of state and government for several weeks, which should be preferred to a large-scale meeting in the Council. In this regard, there was also talk of pressure on the presidency and UN chief Guterres.
At first it remained unclear whether the efforts of a summit of the veto powers had failed. From circles of permanent members, it was said that the plans continued. The UN missions took more time.
