Insights on Côte d’Ivoire
The Council will vote on a resolution on additional troops for Côte d’Ivoire tomorrow. Council members met this morning expecting to vote on this resolution which was put into blue yesterday. Objections by Russia on some of the wording in the resolution led to a one-day delay.
Council members have been negotiating this resolution for the last week and amendments had already been made to accomodate Russia’s views. Among the areas of sensitivity were any mention of Ouattara by name. Russia also asked for the inclusion of language on “freedom of expression” in a paragraph on halting hate media and the reordering of several paragraphs.
During consultations Council members discussed whether Ouattara’s new ambassador, Yousoufou Bamba, should be allowed to participate in a public meeting. Russia felt that he should only participate in a private Council meeting. A decision was made to invite him to participate in the public meeting tomorrow in spite of Russia’s views. It remains to be seen if this could lead to interesting statements tomrorow.
