Bahrain, Colombia, DRC, Latvia, Liberia elected non-permanent members of UN Security Council

UNITED NATIONS -- Bahrain, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Latvia and Liberia were elected non-permanent members of the UN Security Council on Tuesday for a two-year term running from Jan 1, 2026 to Dec 31, 2027.

Latvia will become a non-permanent member of the Security Council for the first time.

The newly elected members will replace the outgoing non-permanent members of Algeria, Guyana, Republic of Korea, Sierra Leone, and Slovenia.

A candidate must obtain the support of two-thirds of the UN member states present and voting at the General Assembly session in order to secure a non-permanent seat on the Security Council, regardless of whether the candidacy is contested or not. This means that a minimum of 129 positive votes are required to win a seat if all 193 member states are present and voting. Member states that abstain are considered not voting.

The five candidates won easily as they were running unopposed.

In Tuesday's voting, Colombia and Latvia won the unanimous support of all member states that were present and voting, according to results announced by Philemon Yang, the current General Assembly president, who presided over the voting process.

All the five newly elected members but Latvia have previously served on the Security Council. Colombia has served seven times, the DRC twice, and Bahrain and Liberia once.

The Security Council has 15 members, five of which are permanent ones: Britain, China, France, Russia, and the United States. The 10 non-permanent seats of the council are allocated by geographic region, with five replaced each year.

The five newly elected countries represent the African, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Eastern European groups. The Western European and others group is not contesting this year, as its two seats, currently held by Denmark and Greece through 2026, come up for election every other year.

The Security Council is considered the most powerful body of the United Nations. The council, tasked to maintain international peace and security, can make legally binding decisions and has the power to impose sanctions and authorize the use of force.