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Immediately after handing over the helm of the European Union (EU) Council, Lithuania will take presidency of the United Nations (UN) Security Council on January 1, 2014.

Lithuania, which has been elected to the most important international security structure for a two-year term in a vote which concluded just a few hours ago, will have the duty of organizing the work of 15 countries by alphabet, Foreign Minister Linas Linkevičius told BNS.

"We did not only become members for two years but will take presidency of the Security Council for a month on January 1st – this is the duty we have to perform by alphabet. So, the next day after completing EU Council presidency, we will start presidency of the UN Security Council," the minister said in a telephone interview from New York.

During the Thursday's vote at the General Assembly, Lithuania's secured 187 votes – he highest number of votes among the five elected members. The United Nations include a total of 193 countries.

Lithuania will be one of the 10 non-permanent members in 2014 and 2015. Permanent members in the UN Security Council include the United States, China, Russia, France and Great Britain, which have the veto right.

"We are in the global policy league. This is something many countries aspire to," Linkevičius said after the vote.

The Lithuanian diplomacy chief emphasized that UN Security Council membership will improve Lithuania's visibility, which the country will be able to exercise to expand its economic and cultural ties, at the same time stressing the importance of proper preparations for the task.

"We have to prepare well. The Security Council's mandate is enormous, its decisions are binding for all countries, the Security Council confirms sanctions and use of force, if needed, it sanctions operations and discusses matters in connection to crises," he said.

Other countries elected to the Security Council on Thursday were Chile, Saudi Arabia, Chad and Nigeria.

The Security Council includes 15 members of the UN. It is the only institution, the only institution that, under international law, can sanction the use of military force. Decisions at the Council are made by the majority of nine votes.

Important decisions on Syria's chemical weapons and the use of military force in Libya have been made at the Council recently.

President Dalia Grybauskaitė said the UN Security Council presidency will be a “new honorable challenge and commitment to the whole international community.”

“After election to the UN Security Council, Lithuania will take part in the making of key decisions in connection to global security,” Lithuania's President Dalia Grybauskaitė told BNS through her press service.

Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius said the membership is a result of long diplomatic efforts.

"Lithuania's task now is to successfully meet the commitments we have been entrusted with once we've become non-permanent members of the UN Security Council – strengthen the international security," the prime minister said in a press release.

Lithuania had been seeking Security Council membership ever since it officially submitted an application for the slot for Eastern European group in 1996.

Source: Baltic News Service