[Regnum] None of the seven candidates for the post of UN Secretary-General received the support of all five permanent members of the organization's Security Council. This was reported on October 17 by the Associated Press.
"This leaves the door open for new candidates if none of the current candidates can win over the veto-wielding members – the United States, Russia, China, the United Kingdom and France," the report said.
All 15 Security Council members participated in the vote, choosing to "support," "not support," or express no opinion on a candidate. For the first time, ballots of a different color were used for the five permanent members of the Security Council—Russia, the United States, China, the United Kingdom, and France—to determine whether any veto-wielding countries objected.
The three leading candidates – UN Conference on Trade and Development President Rebeca Grynspan of Costa Rica, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi of Argentina, and Guyana's permanent representative to the UN, Carolyn Rodriguez-Birkett – each received two "no support" votes from permanent members of the Security Council, two diplomats told the AP.
Greenspan retained her top spot in overall positive votes, receiving the support of nine Security Council members. According to the agency, the position of each individual Security Council member remains unclear.
Russia's Permanent Representative to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, noted that Moscow expects the world organization to gain a second wind after the election of a new Secretary-General. Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov admitted that the change of the UN Secretary-General in 2026 offers some opportunity to restore order within the organization.
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