Sahara : Russia, Ethiopia and China abstain in the Security Council

The United Nations Security Council has just adopted a new resolution on Western Sahara. As planned, the council's fifteen members extended the MINURSO's manadate for another six months.

Out of the Security Council's fifteen members, twelve have voted in favor of the draft resolution submitted by the United States while three others have chosen to abstain, namely Russia, Ethiopia and China.

To justify the country's choice of abstaintion, the Chinese representative said that the text did not “pressure” the parties involved to engage in direct negotiations.

On the other hand, Sweden opted for a “yes”, although, as its representative explained, the country's request to make the MINURSO monitor the human rights situation in the region has not been taken into account.