Human Rights Council

Cyprus has been elected to the UN Human Rights Council for the first time, marking a significant achievement for the Republic, as stated by Foreign Affairs Minister Constantinos Kombos shortly after the voting results were announced on Wednesday.

Greece's candidacies as non-permanent member of the UN Security Council (2025-26) and as member of the Human Rights Council (2028-2030) will focus on close collaboration with all countries and UN mechanisms to safeguard human rights, Foreign Minister George Gerapatritis said during his address at the 55th UN Human Rights Council session in Geneva on Wednesday.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has decried the recent Quran burning incidents in several European countries as hate crimes and acts of barbarism, expressing deep concerns over the "escalating Islamophobia in Western nations."

Greece has already secured the written commitment of 113 states to vote in favor of its candidacy for election as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council in 2025-26, Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias has said.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has urged China to oppose Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Blinken spoke with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during the G20 summit on the Indonesian island of Bali.

In a letter to the Prime Minister of Israel, Naphtali Bennett, the President of Russia requested that the Alexander Nevsky Church in Jerusalem's Old City be immediately transferred to Russian ownership.

Asked about Russia's reaction to Serbia's vote to suspend Russia in the Human Rights Council, Vucic said:

"The Russian invaders are preparing a propaganda staging - they will show the dead in Mariupol, as if they were not killed by them, but by the Ukrainian military."

This was announced by President Volodymyr Zelensky in an address on April 7, published on his Facebook page.

He said that there were no consultations of all member states, and such an approach will only worsen the discord within the Council.
He estimated that such an approach would only deepen the rift between the member states, increase the contradictions between the parties and add fuel to the fire, RIA Novosti reports.

The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution terminating Russia's participation in the Human Rights Council.

"The UN General Assembly has suspended Russia's participation in the UN Human Rights Council," the statement said.

93 delegations voted in favor of the resolution, 24 against and 58 abstentions.