UNSC failing to see resolutions implemented says Cyprus ambassador

The UN Security Council must step up its game in demonstrating resolutions can be implemented, the island’s permanent representative to the UN said during Thursday’s plenary session.

At the session, Ambassador Andreas Hadjichrysanthou welcomed the renewal of the UN peacekeeping mandate in Cyprus, but said the reason Cyprus has remained on the agenda for so long is a lack of implementation of the numerous resolutions and an absence of consequences.

Hadjichrysanthou added that allowing the results of the illegal use of force in Cyprus to be consolidated sets a dangerous precedent for the UNSC’s credibility.

The issue of Varosha, he said, is a concrete testing-ground for proving the security council’s capacity to implement its resolutions. It is the responsibility of the council to defend its member states, especially smaller ones, from the will of their powerful opponents, he added.

In his speech, Hadjichrysanthou emphasised that to achieve the primary objectives of the UN there is a need for greater cooperation between the security council and the general assembly.

“The [annual] report should not be a collection of files on security council meetings and documents, but a substantive reflection of the council’s position,” he said.

Hadjichrysanthou said that the security council’s report should include analysis of the consequences of conflicts, as well as assessment of the implementation of UNSC decisions and the compliance levels of stakeholders. It should, moreover, include an assessment of the council’s performance in fulfilling key aspects of its mandate, and assessment of the ways in which it will secure peaceful resolution of disputes before it.

In addition, he said, the report should include a strategic analysis of the conflicts’ deeper underlying causes and ways to allow the UNSC’s response to be more comprehensive. Population displacement and its inherent human rights violations should also be assessed.