The United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday elected five new non-permanent members to the UN Security Council.
Bahrain, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Latvia, and Liberia were elected to serve two-year terms commencing in January 2026. Their mandates will run until the end of 2027 on the Council, which holds primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security.
Bahrain, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Latvia, and Liberia elected as non-permanent members of the UN #SecurityCouncil for two-year terms beginning in January 2026
Read more ⤵️https://t.co/inZFLCOdUy pic.twitter.com/a3b1AD10Fp
— UN News (@UN_News_Centre) June 3, 2025
They will join the five non-permanent members elected in 2024 Denmark, Greece, Pakistan, Panama, and Somalia who are set to serve until 2026.
The newly elected countries will replace Algeria, Guyana, the Republic of Korea, Sierra Leone, and Slovenia, whose terms will expire in December 2025.
The UN Security Council is composed of 15 members: five permanent members China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States each holding veto power, and ten non-permanent members elected by the General Assembly to serve staggered two-year terms.
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Elections are conducted annually by secret ballot, with seats allocated by regional groupings. A two-thirds majority of the 193-member General Assembly is required for election.
In this year’s vote, 188 Member States participated, and only one round of balloting was necessary.
#BREAKING
UN General Assembly ELECTS the following countries as Security Council non-permanent members for two-year terms starting 1 Jan 2026:
🇧🇠Bahrain
🇨🇴 Colombia
🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo
🇱🇻 Latvia
🇱🇷 LiberiaFollow our coverage ⤵️https://t.co/inZFLCOdUy pic.twitter.com/Q2EgRfDdSw
— UN News (@UN_News_Centre) June 3, 2025
In the Africa and Asia-Pacific group, Bahrain secured 186 votes, the DRC received 183, and Liberia garnered 181, with one abstention.
Latvia, representing the Eastern European group, obtained 178 votes, with 10 countries abstaining.
In the Latin America and Caribbean group, Colombia received 180 votes, while eight countries abstained.
Latvia will be joining the Security Council for the first time in its history. The other elected countries have previously served: Colombia seven times, the DRC twice, and both Bahrain and Liberia once each.
The ten non-permanent seats on the Council are allocated across four regional groupings: Africa and Asia-Pacific, Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Western European and Other States group.
This year’s election filled five seats: two allocated to Africa, one to Asia-Pacific, one to Eastern Europe, and one to Latin America and the Caribbean.
