Germany Announces UN Security Council Candidacy at GIGA Event in Hamburg

Hamburg, 27 June 2016. Germany will apply for a seat on the UN Security Council for the period 2019–20. This was announced by Federal Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier today at an event organised by the German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA) in Hamburg, Germany. In his speech, entitled "Ruptures and Bridges – German Foreign Policy in Turbulent Times," Steinmeier said: “To us it is clear that we need the United Nations and the Security Council more than ever in our efforts to achieve peace in this unpeaceful time. (…) Tomorrow in New York the decision will be made about which of our European partners will serve as non-permanent members on the UN Security Council for the next two years. (…) I want to take that as an opportunity to officially announce, today, that Germany will also apply again for a seat on the council – specifically, as a non-permanent member for the years 2019–2020.”

The event was organised by the German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA), a Leibniz social science research institute which analyses political, social, and economic developments in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East, as well as global issues. It was part of the Distinguished Speaker Lecture Series, through which the GIGA brings the best and brightest minds in academia and policy to Hamburg from all over the world to stimulate public exchange on key global developments.

Steinmeier emphasised the unique role of the GIGA’s research: “Prof. Narlikar, the thesis that you recently formulated for the social sciences – of moving away from Western-centric methods and points of view towards truly pluralistic ones – applies similarly to foreign policy if our goal is to achieve truly joint visions of order.”

“It is a privilege and honour to welcome our Federal Foreign Minister Steinmeier to inaugurate the practitioner’s part of our lecture series,” said GIGA President Prof. Narlikar in her introductory remarks. “The Minister’s choice of topic is a perfect fit with the research that we do at the GIGA, and could not be more appropriate given the turbulent times we live in today. His address is sure to provide our international community of scholars, practitioners, and the general public with valuable and innovative ideas on ways forward.”

Several hundred high-level decision makers from politics, academia, the media, the non-profit sector, and business, as well as members of the general public, attended the event at Hamburg City Hall this evening. “The GIGA’s work is incredibly valuable, especially now,” said Hamburg mayor Olaf Scholz in his welcoming remarks. “It is, among other things, the crises, wars, and hardship in many regions of the world that make the GIGA’s work so necessary.”

The next GIGA Distinguished Speaker Lecture will be in September.