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Latvia supports Georgieva's candidacy for UN top job

Xinhua, September 29, 2016 Adjust font size:

Latvia supports the candidacy of European Commission vice president Kristalina Georgieva from Bulgaria for the post of the United Nations secretary-general, Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics said on Wednesday.

The minister stressed that Latvia's position has always been that the next secretary-general must come from Eastern Europe, and that gender equality at the UN must be not just words.

"Unfortunately, the past three votes show that none of the female candidates put forward from Eastern Europe have gained enough support," LETA news agency quoted Rinkevics as saying.

"We believe that fresh candidates should be put forward and in this situation Georgieva, who has worked at the World Bank and the European Commission, is the most suitable candidate," the Latvian foreign minister noted.

Bulgaria on Wednesday changed its candidate for the next head of the United Nations and is now putting forward Georgieva. The previous candidate from Bulgaria, UNESCO director general Irina Bokova, was only the sixth in the latest round of informal voting at the UN Security Council.

The Security Council has already held five rounds of informal voting. Portugal's former prime minister Antonio Guterres led in the fifth UN Security Council secret and informal straw poll.

The next informal ballot is scheduled for October 5. Endit