Russia failed in the election for a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council. Bulgaria and Albania yesterday obtained the necessary majority of the 193 UN members in voting for Eastern European states at the UN General Assembly in New York. Bulgaria received 160 votes, Albania 123 and 83 countries voted for Russia.
The secret ballot was seen as a test of how respectable Russia is around the world, more than a year and a half after its invasion of Ukraine.
The election of new members this year comes at a time when many countries, especially in the Global South, are struggling to follow the hard line adopted by Western industrialized nations towards Russia.
A few weeks after the attack on Ukraine – in April 2022 – the United Nations General Assembly suspended Russia’s membership. Moscow then declared that its membership was terminated prematurely. At that time, 93 members voted in favor of a suspension resolution introduced by Britain and the US, 58 members abstained and 24 members voted against.