Italy seeks support on U.N. Security Council reform

Italy's Foreign Minister Franco Frattini talks during a meeting at the Farnesina in Rome February 5, 2009.

ROME (Reuters) - Italy hosted talks on Wednesday with delegations from nearly 80 countries on the much disputed issue of expanding the U.N. Security Council, seeking support for its view that no new permanent members should be added.

Italy, which like other medium and small countries fears being left out of an enlarged council, says the widest possible consensus is needed over the reform of the Security Council before formal negotiations start on Feb. 19.

But the list of those not invited to Rome -- notably Germany, Japan, Brazil and India, all contenders for new permanent seats -- reflects the deep divisions on the issue.

Of the five permanent, veto-holding members, only Russia and China were at the meeting. The United States was allowed in as an observer but France and Britain were not invited.

"The time where an elite decides on its own is over," Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said after the meeting, urging greater representation for small and medium-sized countries, or even continents like Africa.

"An approach where the Security Council would become an even more exclusive club, at the expense of all the other U.N. members, would not serve the long-term interests of the United Nations," he said.

In New York, Japan's U.N. Ambassador Yukio Takasu said the Rome meeting was "a reaction to the heightened momentum of reform of the Security Council." He hoped it would "be conducive to the real seriousness" of discussions in New York.

ENLARGEMENT NEEDED

The Security Council's composition largely reflects the balance of power shortly after World War Two, and most members agree it needs enlarging to reflect present-day realities.

But regional rivalries and the big powers' desire to avoid dilution of their preeminence are making agreement on change difficult.

The council -- which has the power to impose sanctions and deploy peacekeeping forces -- has five permanent members, plus 10 members elected on a regional basis for two-year terms and which have no veto.

Italy would like to see the number of rotating members, set in 1965, increased to 25.

Numerous plans have been put forward in the past, differing over how many new council seats should be added, who should have them, whether they should be permanent, semi-permanent or time-limited, and which if any new states should get the veto.

Any reform must be approved by two-thirds of the U.N.'s 192 members, including all five permanent Security Council members.

Last year, Germany and Cyprus circulated a draft text that proposed adding seven new members -- two each from Africa and Asia and one each from Latin America, western Europe and eastern Europe. It left open the terms of their membership.

President Nicolas Sarkozy said last month France and Britain would seek a temporary reform to break the deadlock. Permanent members should include an African and a Latin American state and India, and German and Japanese membership could be discussed, he added.

Washington has said it supports permanent membership for Japan and possibly others it has not named. Italy and Pakistan oppose permanent seats for Germany and India respectively.

(Additional reporting by Patrick Worsnip and Louis Charbonneau at the U.N.)