UNGA: Egypt calls for ‘respect’ for UN system

Egyptian Foreign Minister lays out his country’s vision in New York

Egypt’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Sameh Shoukry, addresses the UN General Assembly on Saturday. AFP

Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry called for a “renewed commitment to multilateralism” at the UN General Assembly in New York on Saturday.

The last speaker of the morning session, Mr Shoukry outlined Egypt's vision of world events and how it hoped to navigate a “myriad of intertwined crises".

He reaffirmed Egypt's support of the UN and called for other countries to support the institution.

“I call upon all those gathered to respect the UN system and reinvigorated and work on reforming it,” he told the 193-member General Assembly.

As part of those reforms, Mr Shoukry endorsed the “African position calling for the reform of the Security Council", under which Africa would have permanent representatives.

The Egyptian minister said his country still believed a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders was the best way forward in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

“We must refrain from any unilateral measures that will change the facts on the ground and undermine chances for a final solution,” Mr Shoukry said.

On Thursday, Israel’s caretaker Prime Minister Yair Lapid endorsed a two-state solution in his speech to the General Assembly, in a rare sign of support from an Israeli leader.

But Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas took little stock in Mr Lapid’s words.

In his address to the assembly on Friday, he said Palestinians were losing hope for a two-state solution and that Israel was not a “partner” in the peace process.

Touching on a host of different issues facing Middle East countries, Mr Shoukry said Egypt "supported political solutions in Syria, Lebanon, Yemen and Sudan".