Poland wants limit to Russia's UN veto

President Komorowski has left for the 69th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, signally he intends to try and persuade national leaders to limit Russia's Security Council veto.

Poland's head of state is set to address the General Assembly on Thursday.

“My main message will be that perhaps the United Nations should be reformed to make the institution capable of addressing the threats that really exist today,” Bronislaw Komorowski has told the New York Times.

Komorowski added that the UN is being seen as powerless to stop Russia's aggressive policy in the east of Ukraine.

“I think blocking the Security Council on Ukraine is a token, a symptom, of the general weakness of the UN,” he said.

Changing rules to limit Russia's power of veto is next to impossible, however, as it would need a vote of two-thirds of the General Assembly and the consent of all five permanent Security Council members.

Russia is one of the permanent members of the powerful Security Council.

While in the United States, Komorowski is scheduled to attend a reception hosted by President Barack Obama and will deliver a speech as the annual World Leaders Forum lecture at Columbia University in New York.

The president will return to Poland on Friday. (pg)

 

Photo: President Bronislaw Komorowski with First Lady Anna on board an aircraft flying to New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly (PAP/Jacek Turczyk)