(iv) One permanent seat and one non permanent seat for Latin American and Caribbean States

Latin America and the Caribbean would have one permanent seat and one additional non permanent seat.

(ii) Two permanent seats and one non permanent seat for Asian States

Asia would have two additional permanent seats and one additional non permanent seat.

(iii) One non permanent seat for Eastern European States

The Group of Western European and other States would have one additional permanent seat, with the Group of Eastern European States having one additional non permanent seat.

As recently as 1979, after 155 ballots the candidates withdrew and a third candidate was endorsed for the non permanent seat in question.

We have long supported a permanent seat for Japan.

We particularly welcome the creation of an additional non permanent seat for the group of Eastern European States, which has grown considerably in recent years.

(v) One permanent seat for Western European and other States

Thirdly, since the composition of the Group of Eastern European States has doubled over the past decade, that Group should have an additional non permanent seat.

Since the membership of the Group of Eastern European States has doubled over the last decade, it should have an additional non permanent seat in the Council.

Not providing for one more non permanent seat makes the proposal of the group of four totally incompatible with AU positions, but denying both permanent seats to the AU makes the Uniting for Consensus proposal fully compatible.

Moreover, permanent status obliges members to assume their burdens fully and with a sense of responsibility a permanent seat obliges a country to take a loftier view and to give structural development priority over ephemeral matters. Would the Security Council possess the same authority with only non permanent members?

Brazil wants to prove that it deserves a permanent seat on the Security Council.

For those many Member States who rarely, if ever, occupy a non permanent seat on the Council, there should be other ways to participate in Council decisions and contribute to discussions.

Any increase in the number of elected Council members must ensure a proportionally adequate representation of the Eastern European Group, which should be given at least one additional non permanent seat.

We have consistently suggested an increase in permanent and non permanent seats.

(i) Two permanent seats and two non permanent seats for African States

I would reiterate that the key characteristic of a permanent seat is not the permanence of the seat itself, but the privileges attached to it.

What is more, through the proposed merger, the Western European and Eastern European groups stand to lose a seat something that potential non permanent members from those two groups could not afford.

The Security Council should be expanded to include new permanent and non permanent members.

My delegation associates itself with the statement made by the Permanent Representative of Luxembourg on behalf of the European Union and with the statement made by the Permanent Representative of Estonia on behalf of the Group of Eastern European States, States which are eligible for election to a non permanent seat on the Security Council.

There is no reason Japan should not hold a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council.

An expansion in the permanent and non permanent categories will provide balance in the Council.

Consequently, the formulation proposed would mean six new permanent and four new non permanent members.

The Council has to be expanded with both new permanent and new non permanent members.

It calls for two permanent seats, with the prerogatives and privileges of permanent membership, and five non permanent seats for Africa.

We ask for at least two permanent members with a veto and five non permanent seats.

Enlargement in the non permanent category, which should include one additional seat for the Eastern European regional Group whose membership has doubled over the past 15 years should ensure an appropriate regional balance in the Council.

Slovakia has been approved as the candidate of the Group of Eastern European States for a non permanent seat in the Security Council in the elections to be held at this session of the General Assembly.

In our view, if a candidate managed to secure the support required to occupy a permanent seat only after countless ballots with its support growing vote by vote, round by round the legitimacy and credibility it needed to occupy a permanent seat would be weakened.

The allocation of at least one additional non permanent seat to the Eastern European Group, whose composition has more than doubled in the last 15 years, is an important precondition for our support of any reform proposal.

Reform will have to involve both enlargement in the permanent and non permanent categories and working methods.

Finland therefore supports an enlargement of the Council in both the permanent and the non permanent categories.

According to those critics, permanent members with the veto, permanent members without the veto and non permanent members would constitute three unmanageable and in fact unequal tiers, but the continued dominance of the permanent five and the proposed 20 non permanent members would form one happy, equal family.

The new permanent and non permanent members joining the Council as part of this expansion should receive the same prerogatives as current permanent members.

Secondly, Africa must be given two additional non permanent seats.

Finland therefore supports an enlargement of the Council in the number of both permanent and non permanent members.

The enlargement of the Council should be carried out in both categories of membership, permanent and non permanent.

We are convinced that, for the time being, one additional non permanent seat on an expanded Security Council for the Eastern European Group seems to be a minimum in order to maintain balance and the fair distribution of seats.

Key elements of the position of Belarus on this issue continue to be expansion of representation of developing countries in the Council, as well as the granting of one additional non permanent seat to the Eastern European regional group.

Secondly, expansion of the Security Council should be carried out in both categories of membership, permanent and non permanent.

(a) Enlarge the Security Council in both the permanent and non permanent categories and improve on its working methods

Coming in the wake of India s record margin of victory in the race for a non permanent seat on the Security Council, this news confirms India s standing in the world and the contribution it is capable of making on the Council.