Germany loses vote for UN Security Council seat

· DW

Fifteen of the 193 UN member states sit on the UN Security Council. Germany was in competition with Austria and Portugal for two seats in the "Western Europe and Others" group.

Germany lost a vote on Wednesday for a temporary seat on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). 

Germany needed a two-thirds majority of votes in the wider UN General Assembly to land a temporary seat on the UNSC for the next 10 years.  

Ahead of the vote, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said Germany has a "good offer" and is ready to take responsibility on the important committee, which is tasked with peacekeeping and international security. 

The UN Security Council is an important committee which is involved in international crises, such as Russia's invasion of Ukraine or the US-Israeli war with Iran (FILE: April 30, 2026)Image: Loey Felipe/UN Photo/Handout/Xinhua/picture alliance

Germany was in competition with Austria and Portugal for two seats in the "Western Europe" and Others" group. Both Austria and Portugal won those seats as they had received more votes than Germany.  

DW's Benjamin Alvarez Gruber, who was in New York for the vote, noted that Germany is the second-largest contributor to the UN.    

The UN Security Council is the only body in the UN whose resolutions are legally binding. 

The Security Council consists of 15 of the 193 member states. The US, UK, China, Russia, and France are the five permanent members of the council and have veto power.  

This is a breaking news story and will be updated....