Five Countries Elected to UN Security Council

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The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) elected five new countries as non-permanent members for the Security Council.
These new terms will begin on 1st January 2027 and will last for two years.

The Western European and Other States group selected Austria and Portugal for the council seats.
The Latin American and Caribbean Group chose Trinidad and Tobago to represent them.
The African Group elected Zimbabwe for the upcoming term.
The Asia-Pacific Group selected Kyrgyzstan as their regional representative.
This election is a historic milestone because Kyrgyzstan will serve on the council for the first time since joining the United Nations in 1992.
These new members will join Bahrain, Colombia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Latvia, and Liberia, who were elected in 2026 and will serve through 2027.

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) was established in 1945 under the UN Charter.
It is one of the UN's six principal organs and holds the main responsibility for keeping international peace and security.
The council has 15 members in total.
There are 5 permanent members, known as the P5, which include China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and they all hold veto power.
There are also 10 non-permanent members who serve two-year terms after being elected by the UN General Assembly (UNGA).
The ten non-permanent seats are divided by region, giving 5 to African and Asian States, 1 to Eastern European States, 2 to Latin American and Caribbean States, and 2 to Western European and Other States.
Elections happen every year through a secret ballot and need a two-thirds majority vote, even if nobody is running against the candidate.
The UNSC is the only UN body whose decisions all member countries must legally follow under the UN Charter.
India has served as a non-permanent member on the council during the periods of 1950-51, 1967-68, 1972-73, 1977-78, 1984-85, 1991-92, 2011-12, and 2021-22.