For the first time in its history, the UN Security Council met via video conference. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the diplomats conferred from home yesterday. However, there were technical problems during the more than four-hour session, as subsequently reported from diplomatic circles at the UN headquarters in New York.
The consultations had to be interrupted several times because the Internet connections broke down or the power of participants failed. Also, due to technical problems, it was not possible to simultaneously translate the meeting held in English into the other official languages of the United Nations. „It was a bit improvised,“ said a diplomat.
The session, which dealt with the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, among other things, was intended as a test for the use of video circuits. The meeting was therefore not on the official Security Council agenda. The most powerful body in the United Nations had not met since March 12 because of the corona virus.
Votes still unclear
It is still unclear how the Security Council will vote under these conditions. Russia, which is one of the five permanent members of the body, has a veto right, refuses to vote remotely and insists on physical meetings of the body for voting.
The work of the entire UN headquarters in New York has been severely affected by the coronavirus crisis. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had ordered in mid-March that a large part of the employees work from home for at least three weeks.
