Wadephul calls on UN to remember founding principles
The UN faces a crisis, with the erosion of the principles on which the global organisation was founded in 1945. The German Foreign Minister called for respect for the United Nations Charter.
New York (dpa) – Germany’s Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has called on the United Nations to return to its founding principles. “We all would only stand to lose in a world where might makes right, where international rules are obsolete, a world where treaties are only binding for the weak – and where war is the continuation of diplomacy by other means,” Wadephul warned in his speech to the UN General Assembly in New York. “Such a world would ultimately be governed by force.”
Wadephul demanded respect for the principles and objectives of the UN Charter, stressing that all members had an obligation to uphold these. Eighty years after its foundation the UN faced major challenges, Wadephul said, identifying the budget crisis, a crisis in multilateralism, and a lack of respect for international law. He also issued an urgent call for reforms to the UN. “Now more than ever, we need our United Nations to be fit for purpose,” he said, calling for additional permanent and non-permanent seats on the Security Council to reflect the world’s realities. The additional permanent seats should go to regions underrepresented today, Wadephul said, specifically Africa, Asia and Latin America.
The Foreign Minister also addressed Germany’s candidature for one of the non-permanent seats on the Security Council for the 2027–2028 session. Elections take place in summer 2026. In what Wadephul described as “a time of unprecedented instability and upheaval,” Germany had three central goals: justice, peace and respect. These values had been at the heart of Germany’s work at the United Nations for decades, he said.