Egypt's Foriegn Minstry Sameh Shokry
Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry is heading to New York on Monday to attend the voting on Egypt's bid for a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for the years 2016 – 2017, a foreign ministry spokesperson said in a statement on Sunday.
"Egypt is a heavy weighted Arab, African and Middle Eastern country. It also represents a large segment of ‘non-aligned’ and Islamic states, so joining the Security Council will allow Egypt to be capable of relaying its vision and priorities on many security and defence issues related to those countries," Ahmed Abu Zeid’s statement read.
Jordan is currently the Arab country sitting on the council among the ten non-permanent members, who are traditionally elected for two-year terms by the General Assembly.
Egypt announced its bid to win the seat at the UN General Assembly in September 2014 when Egyptian officials vowed "to push ‘third world issues’ and for the resolution of regional crises such as in Palestine, Libya and Yemen."
Egypt received the support of African states at the latest African Union summit in January 2015. The Arab League also expressed its support for Egypt’s bid.
Egypt sat on the Security Council as a non-permanent member in 1946, 1949-1950, 1984-1985, and 1996-1997.
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