Five countries elected to UN Security Council; Germany misses out

June 3 (Reuters) – The United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday elected Austria, Kyrgyzstan, Portugal, Trinidad and Tobago and Zimbabwe to the 15-member U.N. Security Council for two-year terms starting January 1, 2027.

Germany, which lobbied hard for a seat, came third with 104 votes, opposed by Portugal’s 134 and Austria’s 131 votes for the two spots contested by the Western Europe and Others Group.

The contest between the Philippines and Kyrgyzstan for the Asia-Pacific Group seat resulted in four rounds of voting; Kyrgyzstan eventually won the necessary two-thirds majority and secured its first Security Council seat by 142 votes to 49.

The Security Council is the only UN body that can make legally binding decisions, such as imposing sanctions and authorizing the use of force. It has five permanent veto-wielding members: Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States.

The remaining 10 members are elected and five new members join each year. This year, one comes from the Africa Group, one from the Latin America and Caribbean Group, one from the Asia-Pacific Group, and two from the Western Europe and Others Group.

Zimbabwe will replace Somalia, Trinidad and Tobago will replace Panama, Portugal and Austria will replace Denmark and Greece. Kyrgyzstan will replace Pakistan.

Bahrain, Colombia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Latvia and Liberia will continue to serve as non-permanent members of the Security Council until the end of 2027.

The General Assembly on Tuesday elected Bangladesh Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman as chairman of the 193-member body for the 81st session, which begins in September.

(Reporting by David Brunnstrom; Editing by David Ljunggren and Sanjeev Miglani)