The U.N. Security Council will be getting five new members in January _ regional powers Nigeria and Brazil, former war-torn Bosnia and Lebanon, and the politically troubled African nation of Gabon.
The General Assembly elected the five countries on Thursday to serve two-year terms on the U.N.'s most powerful body.
Unlike most previous Security Council elections, there were no contested seats this year. As a result, the five countries nominated by regional groups won easy election on the first ballot in voting by the 192-member world body.
``It's going to be an even stronger Security Council, I think, next year,'' Britain's U.N. Ambassador John Sawers said after the vote. ``We have two large countries in Brazil and Nigeria who carry the weight of being a regional power. We have two countries in Lebanon and Bosnia that have been through conflict and can bring their own national experiences to the Security Council.''
``I think also for both those countries, the experience of being on the council will help strengthen their national government systems to enable them to take decisions _ to take a view at the center on international issues and broaden the context of those governments,'' he said.
The Security Council has five permanent members _ the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France. The 10 non-permanent members, representing regional groups, serve two-year terms.
The five newly elected members will replace Burkina Faso, Costa Rica, Croatia, Libya and Vietnam on Jan. 1, 2010. The five countries elected last year _ Austria, Mexico, Japan, Turkey and Uganda _ will remain on the council until Jan. 1, 2011.
