Australia urges UN reform, warning of ‘existential’ risk of great power conflict

ANKARA (AA) — Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong has pushed for UN reform, warning that conflict between great powers could be an “existential threat” for the entire world.

“Often small countries, vast distances from major powers, have borne the brunt of a race for dominance, with legacies of those contests casting shadows across the generations.

“But the modern arms race forever transformed the scale of great power competition, and pushed all of humanity to the brink of Armageddon,” said Wong, addressing the UN General Assembly in New York.

Calling for reforms in the UN Security Council, she said they must ensure greater permanent and non-permanent representation for Africa, Latin America, and Asia, including permanent seats for India and Japan.

“And we must demand more of the permanent members, including constraints on the use of the veto,” she said.

Talking about the Russia-Ukraine war, Wong demanded a joint response against Moscow, which she said was on the one hand promising grain to vulnerable nations but also destroying Ukrainian grain silos along the Black Sea coast.

“If we waver in our response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, we would be validating the most fundamental of breaches of international law … Who might be the next victim of state-based aggression?” she asked rhetorically.