In a decision adopted on Friday, December 4, the UN Security Council decided to remove Burundi from its political agenda. A decision that comes shortly after the refusal of the Burundian authorities to extend the presence of the office of the UN special envoy. PUBLICITY
The decision was announced Friday, December 4 in a Security Council statement. The UN institution justifies ” an improvement in the security situation in Burundi “. It also notes that ” the generally peaceful elections marked a new phase “. But the UN still calls on Gitega “ to fight against human rights violations and other persistent problems ”.
Concretely, this means that there will no longer be reports delivered to the Security Council every three months. From now on, Secretary General Antonio Guterres will have to cover the country as part of his regular reports on the Great Lakes region and Central Africa.
This is an expected diplomatic victory for the Burundian authorities, but above all a finding of powerlessness for the United Nations Security Council, believes Thierry Vircoulon, coordinator of the Observatory for Central and Southern Africa. from IFRI (French Institute of International Relations). In addition, the decision comes as the Burundian authorities recently refused to extend the office of the UN special envoy to December 31, 2021, as recommended by Antonio Guterres.PUBLICITY
This present decision is simply the recognition by the members of the Security Council that their strategy has failed.
Thierry Vircoulon, coordinator of the Observatory for Central and Southern Africa at IFRI
On Twitter, the Burundian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Development Cooperation welcomes the news with enthusiasm ” in any case. Albert Shingiro addressed his “deep thanks to the member countries of the Council which supported the legitimate request of Burundi “.
