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Netherlands, Italy to Share UN Security Council Seat UNITED NATIONS—The Netherlands and Italy took the rare step Tuesday of agreeing to share a two-year seat on the U.N. Security Council, after a contest that ended in a dead heat.After five rounds of voting, the countries were tied with 95 votes each. Neither was able to reach the two-thirds majority needed to secure a seat.After discussions, the two European Union members offered to split the seat allocated to the “Western Europe and Others Group” for one year each.“I think it’s a signal of the importance we attach to the work of the United Nations in a time when we need more unity, more conflict resolution, more work on development, and at the same time a show of unity in a complex period for Europe,” Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders told reporters.
The ministers proposed that Italy would serve in 2017 and the Netherlands in 2018. This also would give each country an opportunity to preside over the council, because its presidency rotates monthly on an alphabetical basis.This was not the first time candidates agreed to split a term. In 1960, after 52 rounds of voting, Poland and Turkey agreed to split a two-year term.
