Membership And Representation Of States

Abstract

High on the list of priorities of every new state is to become a member of the United Nations. The basic rules governing membership and representation in the United Nations are laid down in Article 3-6 of the Charter of the UN, as well as in the Rules of Procedure of the General Assembly and the Security Council. As the process of de-colonization has almost been completed, the latest major increase of the membership resulted from the break-up of the USSR, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia in the early 1990s. Indonesia withdrew from the United Nations in 1965 (only to rejoin in 1966), so far being the only state ever to have done so. In the organs of the United Nations every member is represented by accredited representatives who must present credentials issued by their states government, i.e. by the head of state or government or by the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Keywords: member states government; Russian Federation; UN Charter; UN membership; UN Security Council; United Nations representation; Yugoslavia