The Security Council will hold a signature event on 11 August - a high-level open debate on maritime security - its President for the month told reporters at a United Nations Headquarters press conference today.
Eloy Alfaro de Alba (Panama), whose country holds the 15-nation organ's rotating presidency for this month, said that the Council is scheduled to hold a total of 22 meetings during August. "For the time being," he added, "because - as you well know - that tends to increase as the month progresses."
Country-specific meetings on situations that remain on the Council's agenda will include those on West Africa and the Sahel, Yemen, Lebanon, South Sudan and Syria, he said. And following a "last-minute request" by some Council members, he reported that the organ will hold an emergency meeting on the maintenance of international peace and security in Ukraine this afternoon.
He then stated that, on 11 August, Panama will convene its signature event - a high-level open debate on maritime security, focusing on prevention, innovation and international cooperation to address emerging challenges. "We are following up on Greece's initiative, because we feel this is an important matter that is of interest to many in the international community," he said. He added: "And it is certainly a matter that is interesting to Panama."
Noting that the meeting will be chaired by José Raúl Mulino, President of Panama, he said that it will also feature briefings from the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the Secretary-General of the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) and the Chief Executive Officer of the Panama Canal Authority.
The debate will focus on "maritime-security challenges from a global and multidimensional perspective", he added, and will highlight "the links between maritime security, international peace, economic stability and environmental sustainability".
He then fielded several questions from media correspondents, most of which focused on the rapidly evolving situation in the Middle East. One journalist, noting that the Council has been paralysed on the Gaza issue while the situation continues to deteriorate, asked how the momentum stemming from the recent conference on the two-State solution in New York might change Council dynamics.
Responding, he stressed that the issue of Gaza is "on the mind of every member of the Council, because of the well-known reasons we are watching in the news media morning, noon and night". Acknowledging the growing momentum on this topic, he said that he "can foresee that the Council will be engaged formally in events and in sessions to consider that problem".
That problem, he noted, has two different aspects - namely, the humanitarian crisis and the future governance of Gaza. On the first, he said that the United States President's recent remarks that "hunger in Gaza is real" is "a very short - but important - message to describe the situation". He observed that the second "is, of course, a more complicated problem to solve", but expressed hope that "one thing is tying into another".
Asked whether Panama plans to recognize the State of Palestine, he answered in his national capacity: "I cannot venture an opinion as to what will be happening there." Nevertheless, this is an important issue - even more so now that Panama is presiding over the Council - and he said that his Government will be debating this issue. Acknowledging that Panama is becoming increasingly isolated in this respect, he said: "I'm sure Panama is not shielded against the pressure that would be resulting from the rapid development of the situation in that regard in the rest of the world."
Relatedly, he was asked about the Council's upcoming meeting on the mandate renewal for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). Stating his expectation that this will be "one of the thorniest issues" in the Council's August agenda, he said that some members feel that, as the Force was intended to be temporary in nature, the organ ought to "consider whether that 'temporariness' should expire at some point". In his national capacity, he stressed that "sufficient time will have to be provided in whatever decision that is made" to avoid "negative effects".
And, on whether the Council will address Iran's refusal to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) - and if there is any indication that members of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action may activate the agreement's snapback provision on sanctions - he said: "I have no doubt that those issues will be coming up." Underlining the "complicated" nature of this situation, where "one thing led to another", he said that recent bombings in Iran have influenced the political position that Iran has adopted in this context.
On a different topic, he was asked if Panama is considering legalizing full adult cannabis use given that it legalized medical use in 2021. Speaking in his national capacity, he recalled: "I lived in New York during the period of my fellow hippies; I was not a hippie myself - or I didn't consider myself to be a hippie - but I lived in New York during that time." He said that it was surprising, walking around the city today, how things have changed "from a situation that was persecuted to one in which it has become an important business".
Continuing, he pointed out that Panama's historical problem concerning drugs "is to be geographically located between production and consumption", although he added that Panama does produce certain amounts of "allegedly very good" cannabis. Regardless, Panama is a "relatively conservative" and religious country, and he said that "whatever Panama does in the future is going to have to be approved by the National Assembly".
On a question regarding why Panama's presidency has no events concerning migration, he pointed to a similar situation in which Panama "just happens to be in the middle of the flow". He said: "The migration that flows through Panama is migration that wants to go elsewhere, and mostly we know where that 'elsewhere' is." Noting successful efforts by the President of Panama to reduce the flow of migration through the Darién Gap, he said his country therefore decided to not "make that concept part of our high-level events".
Asked about a possible Council resolution on Haiti, he noted that there are no mandated meetings in August on the situation in that country. However, he stressed that this issue is "of concern to all Council members", and even though it is not formally on the agenda, "we do have the intention of holding a meeting or briefing, perhaps during the last week of our presidency".
He also responded to several questions concerning Panama's signature event on maritime security, the first of which concerned delivering a message to the United States - whose President has indicated that he desires the return of the Panama Canal.
Speaking in his national capacity, he said that "there is no particular message intended". Rather, Panama is convening the open debate to "highlight, in a positive way, the services that Panama provides to the world community". These include expanding the Canal by constructing a new set of locks to facilitate the transit of larger vessels, as well as maintaining a ship-registration system "that has been serving world commerce for a number of years".
As to whether an outcome document is expected, he said: "Frankly, I am not sure." Noting differing viewpoints - both in the Council and the larger UN community - concerning maritime security and the freedom of navigation, he said that Panama does not want to "get into any of those complications". Rather, its intention is to continue the debate - "because we think it's a relevant one", he said.
Finally, on whether the debate will address ongoing hostilities in the Red Sea, he said that, while the concept note does not focus on any specific situation, "it would be naïve to believe that those types of issues will not come up in the debate". For its part, Panama has always been critical of anything that affects navigation "because we know what it would mean to have something like that happen in our part of the world", he emphasized. He added: "We cannot allow ourselves to have any position other than critical of things that attempt against freedom of navigation in those chokepoints."
For the full programme of work, please see: https://main.un.org/securitycouncil/en/content/programme-work .
