Five new countries, India, Mexico, Norway, Ireland and Kenya, formally joined the UN Security Council on Monday, while polarization increases in the UN body charged with maintaining global peace and security.
The new quintet participated in the first meeting aimed at approving an agenda proposed by Tunisia, the current chair of the council.
The new states will occupy non-permanent seats on the 15-member council for a period of two years.
The permanent members - the United States, Russia, China, France and Britain - have veto power.
Divisions in the corridors of the Council have increased in recent years, with the United States under President Donald Trump adopting a unilateral diplomatic approach.
While the veto was used by each of the permanent members ten times or less from 1990 to 2000, it was used on 31 occasions from 2010 to 2019, and five times in the past year alone, according to SC Prossider, the specialist news outlet.
The Security Council is active in many conflict and crisis areas around the world, through more than 12 peacekeeping operations, with the participation of about 100 thousand soldiers from member states of the United Nations.
