On 21 January, at the first plenary meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiations (IGN) process on the reform of the United Nations Security Council, within the framework of the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York (United States), Viet Nam declared its support for substantive reform aimed at enhancing the representativeness, authority, and effectiveness of this body.
According to the Viet Nam News Agency correspondent at the United Nations, the meeting was co-chaired by the Ambassadors, Heads of the Permanent Missions of Kuwait and the Netherlands to the United Nations, with the participation of a large number of Member States, marking the start of a series of discussions this year on Security Council reform - one of the most critical, complex, and protracted reform agendas of the world’s largest multilateral organization.
At the meeting, many countries and groups of countries emphasized the necessity of reforming the Security Council to better reflect current geopolitical realities, while exchanging diverse views on the scope of reform, the expansion of categories of membership, working methods, the veto power, as well as the roadmap and modalities for negotiations.
Addressing the meeting, Counsellor Nguyen Hoang Nguyen, Chargé d’Affaires ad interim of the Permanent Mission of Viet Nam to the United Nations, affirmed Viet Nam’s strong commitment to multilateralism and to the central role of the United Nations in the maintenance of international peace and security; at the same time, he underscored that reform of the Security Council is an urgent requirement to enhance the body’s democracy, representativeness, transparency, and effectiveness.
Viet Nam continues to support the expansion of both categories of membership-permanent and non-permanent-of the United Nations, on the basis of ensuring equitable geographical representation and strengthening the voice and participation of developing countries.
With regard to working methods, Viet Nam emphasized the need to improve the transparency, inclusiveness, and effectiveness of the Security Council, including enhancing substantive exchanges between this body and United Nations Member States and improving the quality of interaction between the Security Council and the General Assembly.
Permanent Member States should refrain from, or exercise with restraint, the use of the veto power, in a manner consistent with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations.
Regarding the IGN process, Viet Nam expressed its desire that discussions in 2026 move toward narrowing differences on an overall reform model, thereby laying the groundwork for substantive negotiations in the time ahead.
Viet Nam reaffirmed that it will continue to participate in the IGN process in a constructive, goodwill-driven, and responsible spirit, and stands ready to make active contributions to the common effort to advance Security Council reform toward concrete outcomes, meeting the requirements of the new situation and the legitimate interests of all United Nations Member States.
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