By KUNA,
Vienna : With expiry of Austria and Turkey’s terms as non-permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) as representatives for Europe with the end of 2010, Portugal and Germany are all set to assume the position instead for the new two-year term.
A statement by the Austrian European and International Affairs Minister Michael Spindelegger, on the ministry website Wednesday, said his country’s term was fruitful, citing in particular the passing of draft resolutions on rule of law and human rights such as November 2009’s UNSC resolution on protecting civilians at times of armed conflict.
The minister also noted that as head-state of the international sanctions committee concerning Al-Qaeda and the Taliban, his country also pushed for a mechanism for following up on names on the list of suspected terrorists and for amending such list, all in view of international law.
The official meanwhile voiced confidence Portugal and Germany would contribute and further European causes, most particularly the issue of hunting down and holding accountable war criminals in Yugoslavia and Rwanda.
Austria had for the first time been elected to preside over the human rights council next May, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
The government maintains that its platform and framework is stress and respect of human rights, and officials say the projects it would seek to execute and issues it would follow as of May would reflect interest in this domain, should it actually win the presidency.