Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct. 25 / Trend M. Aliyev /
Azerbaijan has been elected as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for 2012-2013. This is down to the great success of the country's foreign policy, a member of the Committee on Foreign Relations and Inter-parliamentary Relations of the Azerbaijani Parliament Rasim Musabayov told Trend on Tuesday.
Mr. Musabayov said: "In a sense this was an unexpected success, but Azerbaijan had reached the second round during the vote and was always ahead of Slovenia. This testifies to Azerbaijan's international reputation and rich experience in the field of organizational work to get support."
The MP said that membership of the UN Security Council means joining a great political institution on the world stage adding there are not only benefits, but also risks for the state sitting as a member.
Mr. Musabayov is sure that Azerbaijan will adequately cope with its responsibilities.
Azerbaijan as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council is a tremendous accolade of Azerbaijan's foreign policy, MP, doctor of historical sciences, Professor Musa Gasimli told Trend.
He said that this testifies to our country's growing influence and power and strengthening the position of the country. The membership will further increase the number of our supporters. This will help to strengthen Azerbaijan's bilateral and multilateral relations.
He added: "There is no doubt that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev is clued up on international issues. This once again shows Azerbaijan's accurate development strategy."
He said that Azerbaijan's opportunities at the UN will be expanded.
Looking at the Security Council voting breakdown, Azerbaijan was elected a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for 2012-2013, gaining 155 votes from the UN member countries.
Before the last round of voting, Slovenian Foreign Minister Samuel Zbogar announced the withdrawal of his country's candidature as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council. In the round prior to this statement, Azerbaijan gained 116 votes, and Slovenia only 77.
In the last round 155 countries voted for Azerbaijan, 24 countries abstained and another 13 still voted for Slovenia.
Overall Azerbaijan gained more votes than Slovenia in previous six voting rounds, but was unable to collect 129 votes necessary for the election.