Thank you, Mr. Chair,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States.

The Candidate Countries Montenegro*, the Republic of Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina^* and Georgia, as well as Monaco align themselves with this statement.

We congratulate you and the other members of the Bureau on your election. We also thank the staff of the UN Secretariat for their assistance in preparing this session.

Mr./Madam Chair,

This year we celebrate the 80th anniversary of the creation of the United Nations and its Charter. The UN was established after World War II with the primary goal of saving succeeding generations from the scourge of war. This is why the maintenance of international peace and security is at the heart of the UN Charter.

However, today we are confronted with increasing conflicts around the world, with persisting attacks and new threats against the territorial integrity or the political independence of States, in violation of the core purposes and principles of the Charter. We also often witness the inability to settle international disputes by peaceful means, and even failure to comply with the judgments and orders of international courts. In this context, it is more important than ever to uphold international law and the institutions that have been established to ensure justice and the peaceful settlement of disputes. In this regard, the EU reiterates its strong support to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the International Criminal Court.

The ongoing war of aggression by Russia against Ukraine continues to have devastating and long-lasting consequences not only for Ukraine, but also for other regions and for global stability. Russia’s actions are in manifest violation of the UN Charter and are not compliant with the provisional measures ordered by the ICJ on 16 March 2022. We recall that the UN General Assembly has consistently demanded that Russia immediately, completely, and unconditionally withdraw all its military forces from Ukraine's territory as defined by its internationally recognized borders.

We are deeply concerned about the continued escalation of the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). We condemn in the strongest terms the offensive by the M23, supported by the Rwandan Armed Forces (RDF) in eastern DRC that led to the occupation of large parts of Congolese territory in North and South Kivu, including the cities of Goma and Kavumu. We strongly condemn Rwanda’s military presence in the DRC as a clear violation of international law, the UN Charter, and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the DRC. We call upon the Rwandan government to respect the territorial integrity of the DRC by immediately withdrawing all troops from the territory of the DRC and to end all forms of support for M23 and other non-state armed groups. And we urge DRC to cease cooperation with the FDLR. There has to be accountability for those responsible for violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law.

In the Middle East, we welcome the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon and the one in Gaza. These agreements demonstrate the importance of diplomatic engagement and could have positive repercussions across the Middle East. Their full implementation is now crucial to establish a permanent end to hostilities, and – in regard to Gaza – also to ensure the release of all hostages, allow the return of the displaced Gazans and start the reconstruction of Gaza. Also in this case, we recall the obligation to comply with the orders of the ICJ and to comply with international law, in particular international humanitarian law.

Mr./Madam Chair,

In the Pact for the Future adopted in September 2024, we reiterated our obligation to refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State. We also reiterated our commitment to settle international disputes by peaceful means.

It is in this spirit that we participate in this Committee.

With regard to the agenda item “maintenance of international peace and security”, we reiterate our position that sanctions are a vital peaceful tool available to the Security Council to ensure the maintenance of international peace and security, and respond to acts that breach international law, including serious human rights violations.

The EU and its Member States emphasise that sanctions must be implemented in full compliance with international law, including international humanitarian law, international human rights law and international refugee law. In this regard, we welcomed the adoption of Resolution 2664 in 2022, which created a humanitarian carve out across all UN sanctions regimes and has already had a positive impact on humanitarian operations around the world. We also welcome the unanimous decision of the Security Council in December 2024 (Resolution 2761) to indefinitely extend the application of Resolution 2664 to the ISIL (Da'esh) and Al-Qaida sanctions regime. This was a significant positive development at a time of unprecedented humanitarian needs. As the biggest donors of humanitarian aid in the world, the EU and its Member States attach the greatest importance to avoiding any unintended negative impact of sanctions on humanitarian action. This is why we we rapidly implemented Resolution 2664 and have also introduced an equivalent (if not broader) humanitarian carve-out in almost all of our autonomous regimes of restrictive measures.

Sanctions must also respect the rights of listed persons, including due process rights. In this regard, we welcome the adoption of UNSC Resolution 2744 (2024) introducing new procedures for delisting petitions submitted to the Focal Point Mechanism. We also welcome UNSC Resolution 2734 (2024) extending the mandate of the Office of the Ombudsperson to the ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee. We reiterate the need to keep due process under constant monitoring in order to further improve the procedures as needed. This remains a priority for us, not least because of the European Court of Justice’s thorough scrutiny of the EU legal acts transposing UN sanctions into our legal order.

To be effective, sanctions must be properly implemented by all UN Member States and their monitoring is essential. In this respect, it is detrimental that, due to the veto by the Russian Federation, the mandate for the DPRK Sanctions Committee’s Panel of Experts has been terminated and we have thus lost important insights on the situation in DPRK. This undermines the effectiveness of the sanctions regime, posing serious risks to international peace and security.

We look forward to the annual briefing on UN sanctions, to further discuss these issues.

As firm supporters of multilateralism and international law, we also look forward to the debate on peaceful means of dispute settlement.

Mr./Madam Chair,

This Committee was created with the objective of enhancing the ability of the United Nations to achieve its purposes and of making its functioning more effective. If we really attach value to this Committee - as we do -, we must acknowledge the need to reconsider and positively revitalize its work. The recent successful adoption by the Sixth Committee, and then the General Assembly, of the resolutions on, respectively, Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against Humanity, and Protection of Persons in the Event of Disasters, demonstrate our collective capacity for constructive engagement on key topics of universal relevance. This same spirit of cooperation could revitalize the work of this Committee if we focus on topics that can foster consensus. 

We genuinely hope we can make some progress and look forward to constructive exchanges, including with a view to adopt a full report this year.

We would like to conclude by thanking the Secretary-General for his report on the Repertory of Practice of United Nations Organs and the Repertoire of the Practice of the Security Council. We praise the Secretariat’s continued efforts to expand the use of technology to present the practice of all UN bodies in the most accessible manner in the official languages of the Organisation. In particular, we welcome the modernisation of the Security Council’s website in July 2024 and the launch of a new online dashboard providing an overview of the Council’s practice on climate, peace, and security. We express our gratitude to those who have made voluntary contributions to the trust fund, including EU Member States, which enabled such progress. We take this opportunity to also express our gratitude to the Office of Legal Affairs, and notably the Codification Division and its Director, Mr. Pronto.

Thank you.

* North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.