Azernews.Az

By Kamila Aliyeva

U.S. President Donald Trump called for changes in the UN and claimed that there is a need to review funding of the international organization.

"For a long time I have believed that the UN is not effective enough, but it has enormous potential," he said at a meeting with the ambassadors of the countries that are members of the UN Security Council in Washington.

In addition, the American leader called on to review issues related to UN funding, RIA Novosti reported.

"We also need to carefully study the budget of the UN. The costs are completely out of control," Trump said.

The president's budget outline proposed deep cuts in the U.S. contribution to the UN, which could dramatically impair its peacekeeping functions around the world.

He has proposed a 28 percent budget cut for diplomacy and foreign aid, which includes an unspecified reduction in funding for the United Nations and its agencies, as well as enforcement of a 25 percent cap on U.S. funding for peacekeeping operations.

In March, the U.S. administration circulated a draft budget for 2018, which confirmed that it would reduce UN funding. Washington demanded that the world organization "curb costs." Also, the White House said that the U.S. administration will refuse to fund UN programs on climate change on April 20.

Trump has long been known for criticizing United Nations, saying that this structure is not working in full force and thus making the European countries to become concerned over American leader’s statements.

In December 2016, Trump referred to the UN as a "club" for people to "have a good time." As a candidate, he questioned the institution's effectiveness in dealing with international threats.

Today, the issue of increasing the effectiveness of the UN Security Council, including the use of all its statutory peacekeeping capabilities, is becoming increasingly important due to a number of international crises. Most likely, the main reason for the Council's poor effectiveness lies in its inability to ensure the implementation of its resolutions in a number of cases. A clear example of this is the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, that emerged due to Armenia's illegal territorial claims towards neighboring Azerbaijan in 1988. So, Armenia keep under occupation 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory in defiance of international law.

In 1993, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted four resolutions (No. 822, 853, 874 and 884), condemning the occupation of the territories of Azerbaijan, reaffirming respect for its sovereignty and territorial integrity, the inviolability of international borders and the inadmissibility of the use of force for the acquisition of territory.

Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

So, to preserve its authority today the UN, regarded as the guard of peace globally, may really need changes, better tools and mechanisms to enforce its decisions.

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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

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