Aanzienlijke kans op permanente zetel Veiligheidsraad van VN voor Duitsland (en)

Germany's chances of receiving a permanent seat in the UN's Security Council have risen, according to German daily FT Deutschland (19 November).

The renewed optimism for Berlin's bid follows proposals by an expert committee examining reform of the Security Council.

The committee sees two options. Option A would see the permanent seats in the Security Council increased by six; and the non-permanent seats increased by three.

At the moment, the Security Council has five permanent member countries with a veto right - the UK, France, Russia, the US and China - and ten non-permanent seats.

Option B would also see the Security Council expand from 15 to 24 members. However, of these nine new seats, only one would be permanent while the remaining eight would have belong to a different category in that they would be held for four years.

According to this option, the holder of this seat would then have the option of being voted in again - something that is not possible under the current arrangement.

Germany, which launched its UN Security Council bid earlier this year, prefers option A - this option would mean that Germany, along with Brasil, India and Japan which are also lobbying the UN - would all have the chance of a permanent seat.

The expert committee is due to formally present its proposals at the beginning of December.