Between Christmas and the New Year I had a video conversation with Kenya's UN Ambassador Martin Kimani in New York about how African countries view the war in Ukraine. When the interview was over, he added: Norway has used its two years on the UN Security Council well. More Norwegians ought to be aware of that. Kenya sat alongside Norway on the Council. The two countries cooperated closely, and the ambassador elaborated on what he felt were Norway's assets:
The Norwegian delegation are better listeners than others. Diplomacy is about understanding where people are coming from, and then contributing to the resolving of conflicts. Kimani pointed out that Norway, whilst upholding principles, managed to combine them with practical solutions to save human lives. Norway is the most pragmatic of all European countries. Your experience with peace diplomacy has made you highly sensitive to the necessity of understanding the position of others, Kimani said. Kimani himself has been highly praised for his conduct in the Security Council, particularly in the many meetings on Russia's war in Ukraine.
A number of achievements
Kenya's appreciation of Norway is supported by Richard Gowan, UN Director of the think tank International Crisis Group (ICG). He told me in December that he felt Norway had done a good job as a Security Council member up until the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February last year. However, referring to the fact that Norway had, for example, seen through a renewed mandate for the UN operation in Afghanistan which had been threatened by a Russian veto, he added that the strength of Norwegian diplomacy has been most pronounced since 24 February. That happened in March, immediately after the invasion of Ukraine, when all communication between two veto powers, the United States and Russia, had been severed and the climate of cooperation in the Security Council was at an historic low.
In July 2022, Norway and Ireland further managed to renew a mandate to send emergency aid to four million people in rebel-controlled areas of Syria. They successfully repeated this at the 11th hour: on 9 January the Security Council unanimously agreed to renew the mandate again. The fact that both Russia and China voted for the Syria resolution that week, instead of abstaining or, in a worst case scenario, vetoing it and thus halting the life-giving emergency aid across the border from Turkey, was astonishing. Their agreement is said to have been a result of negotiations led by Norway and Ireland right at the very end of their membership
