UN Security Council backs Guterres for second term

Michelle Nichols

THE United Nations Security Council backed Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday for a second term, recommending that the 193-member General Assembly appoint him for another five years from Jan. 1, 2022.

Estonia’s U.N. Ambassador Sven Jürgenson, council president for June, said the General Assembly was likely to meet to make the appointment on June 18.

Guterres succeeded Ban Ki-moon in January 2017, just weeks before U.S. President Donald Trump took office. Much of Guterres’ first term was focused on placating Trump, who questioned the value of the United Nations and multilateralism.

The United States is the largest U.N. financial contributor, responsible for 22 percent of the regular budget and around a quarter of the peacekeeping budget. New U.S. President Joe Biden has already started restoring funding cuts made by Trump to some U.N. agencies and re-engaged with the world body.

A handful of people sought to challenge Guterres, but the 72-year-old former prime minister of Portugal was formally unopposed. A person was only considered a candidate once nominated by a member state. Portugal put forward Guterres for a second term, but no one else had the backing of a member state.

Guterres was prime minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002 and then head of the U.N. refugee agency from 2005 to 2015.

https://www.reuters.com/world/un-security-council-backs-guterres-second-term-2021-06-08/