United Nations — Member states reached a preliminary agreement on a long-stalled Security Council reform package on Tuesday, endorsing a framework that would add six new non-permanent seats and create a review mechanism for expanding permanent representation over the next decade.
The compromise text, negotiated over eighteen months, does not immediately grant new permanent seats but establishes a working group to negotiate criteria for future additions from Africa, Latin America, and Asia. Diplomats described it as the most significant movement on Council reform since the 1960s.
Reaction was mixed. Several African Union member states welcomed the framework as overdue but insufficient, while others called it a meaningful first step. The General Assembly is expected to vote on formal adoption of the framework early next year, though any expansion of permanent membership would still require ratification by two-thirds of member states.