NEW YORK--Sweden and Kazakhstan won contested elections for coveted seats on the Security Council on Tuesday and the Netherlands and Italy ended a battle for another seat by agreeing to split the two-year term on the U.N.’s most powerful body.
The U.N. General Assembly met to choose five new council members and it overwhelmingly elected Ethiopia and Bolivia, who faced no opposition for seats earmarked for Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean. But after five rounds of voting, the Netherlands and Italy were deadlocked with each country receiving 95 votes — and needing 127 votes to win.
After two recesses called by General Assembly President Mogens Lykketoft, the Netherlands and Italian foreign ministers announced the deal, saying Italy will hold the seat in 2017 and the Netherlands in 2018. The agreement needs to be endorsed by the group of Western nations who will meet Wednesday morning and are virtually certain to approve it. The assembly is then expected to give its approval.
