St Vincent and Grenadines smallest nation to hold coveted UN security council seat

St. Vincent and the Grenadines has been elected to the United Nations Security Council for the first time in history, becoming the smallest country to hold a coveted Council seat.

The 193 states of the United Nations General Assembly elected five new members to the Security Council on Friday. The other four countries that have been elected to the U.N.'s most powerful body are Estonia, Niger, Tunisia and Vietnam.

St. Kitts and Nevis' Prime Minister and Chairman of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris extends congratulations to the Government and people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

"On behalf of the Government and people of St. Kitts and Nevis, I heartily congratulate St. Vincent and the Grenadines for this significant accomplishment at a time when security has never featured more prominently on our regional development agenda than it does today," Prime Minister Harris said.

"It was just in April that the annual Council of Ministers Meeting of the Regional Security System (RSS) was convened in St. Vincent and the Grenadines under Prime Minister Dr. the Honourable Ralph Gonsalves' chairmanship," the Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis added. The CARICOM Chairman further noted that the RSS – the military support unit for the OECS sub-region – comprises the independent countries of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States, namely Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines along with Barbados, which is a CARICOM Member State.

Prime Minister Harris continued, "At that meeting, Prime Minister Gonsalves said the bedrock of our security rests with our cooperation with global partners. The Governments and people of the region are therefore heartened that St. Vincent and the Grenadines has secured a seat on the Council at this crucial moment in time when the maintenance of international peace and security has never been more essential, particularly in light of the political crisis that confronts Venezuela, our next-door neighbour."

The Caribbean Community Chairman added: "We in the CARICOM grouping are even more confident now that disputes there and elsewhere will be settled by peaceful means, as St. Vincent and the Grenadines' vital voice and vote will be a strong champion, in accordance with CARICOM's guiding principles of non-interference and non-intervention in the affairs of states, respect for sovereignty, adherence to the rule of law, and respect for constitutional order and democracy."