NEW YORK, September 24 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday called for faster progress in the search for a mutually acceptable solution to the reform of the UN Security Council.
"It's time to speed up the search for a compromise formula to extend the make-up of the UN Security Council and to increase its efficiency," Medvedev said at the session of the UN General Assembly.
He said that the reform was "an important step to renew the organization."
The Security Council, which first met after the end of World War II, has 15 members, five of them - Russia, China, the United States, Britain and France - are permanent veto-holding members, others are elected for two-year terms by the UN General Assembly.
Japan, Germany, Brazil and India are seeking to expand the current 15-member Security Council to 25 members and a permanent seat without the right of veto. A rival plan, backed, by among others, Italy and Pakistan, propose adding 10 new non-permanent seats to the body. Many other ideas have also been mooted.
One of the reform proposals would allow non-permanent members to be immediately reelected for several consecutive terms, creating de facto a system of semi-permanent members for an indefinite period.
