The U.S. considers Orban a suitable candidate for the post of UN secretary-general
The American administration believes that former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban would be a suitable candidate for the post of UN secretary-general.
This was reported by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), citing sources.
According to the newspaper, the United States would like Orban to enter the race for the post of head of the world organization and believes that such a candidate would be able to secure the support of Russia and China. A source of the newspaper at the State Department believes that the former prime minister has the opportunity to secure the support of 10 out of 15 members of the Security Council, and the votes of eight of them could be obtained without any particular problems. The question is how ready the United Kingdom and France will be to go against the opinion of the majority, the WSJ points out, noting that these two countries "usually take a cautious approach to the use of the right of veto."
The newspaper's interlocutor from the State Department also pointed out that Orban adheres to the "right ideology" and knows how to lead in a hostile environment. As the publication notes, American officials, discussing earlier who could head the UN, assumed that it could be "someone like Orban." In the end, the United States wondered why Orban himself should not do it, the WSJ writes.
The term of Antonio Guterres, who has headed the UN since 2017, expires on December 31, 2026. The members of the Security Council choose the candidate whom they will recommend for the post of head of the world organization. After that, the General Assembly will hold a vote at which the new UN secretary-general will be officially elected. As Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Alimov emphasized, Moscow does not express its preferences regarding candidates for the post of UN secretary-general; the main thing is that the candidate meet the criteria of professionalism and impartiality.
At present, seven candidates are vying for the post of UN secretary-general: IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi (Argentina), Secretary-General of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Rebeca Grynspan (Costa Rica), former foreign minister and former defense minister of Ecuador Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces, Permanent Representative of Guyana to the UN Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, former ambassador of Ecuador to the United States and France Ivonne Baki, former Permanent Representative of Uganda to the UN Olara Otunnu, and Minister of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the United Arab Emirates Lana Zaki Nusseibeh.
Source: TASS
