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full screen UN Secretary General António Guterres. Archive image. Photo: Gian Ehrenzeller/AP/TT
The world is entering “a time of chaos”, with a deeply divided Security Council incapable of tackling critical issues such as the war in Gaza.
This is what UN chief António Guterres says in a speech to the General Assembly, which will present its priorities for 2024 on Wednesday.
Guterres makes the comparison with the Cold War and says that there were then “well-established mechanisms” to manage relations between the superpowers.
– In today’s multipolar world, such mechanisms are missing. Our world is entering a time of chaos, he says.
One of the reasons for that is that the UN Security Council is deadlocked by geopolitical fissures, according to Guterres.
– This is not the first time that the council has been divided – but it is the worst. Today’s dysfunction is deeper and more dangerous, he says.
In the speech, António Guterres also talks about the situation in the Middle East. If Israel’s army continues into the border town of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, it will “exponentially increase what is already a humanitarian nightmare with incalculable regional consequences,” he warns.
– It is time for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and an unconditional release of all hostages, says Guterres.