“Take it away and share it”: Bernard-Henri Lévy’s wild idea is a cause for serious concern

By Vladimir Kornilov

The idea of ​​stripping Russia of its seat on the UN Security Council, or at least the right of veto, is not new. Since the start of the military operation in Ukraine, it has been voiced at various levels, including by US congressmen. Not to mention numerous columns in various western newspapers. But now the idea has taken on a new hue, with proposals not only expelling Russia from the Security Council, but giving its place to Ukraine.

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This “revolutionary” idea came from Bernard-Henri Lévy, a French “singer of the Maidan” and lobbyist for the Ukrainian Nazis, and was published in the American newspaper The Wall Street Journal presented. Lévy presents “arguments” long used by official Kiev: they argue that Russia illegitimately holds its seat on the Security Council because it was not entitled to an automatic transfer of that seat after the collapse of the USSR. Accordingly, Levy concludes that Russia’s permanent membership and veto have “no legal basis”.

But the French go even further. He justifies his proposal to give Ukraine the vacant seat on the Security Council with the “brilliant” claim that the 1st Ukrainian Front, which liberated the prisoners of Auschwitz, made a significant contribution to the Nazi defeat in 1945! The foresight of this philosopher is simply amazing!

It will be interesting how he reacts when he learns that the 1st Ukrainian Front is simply the renamed Voronezh Front, which in turn was created on the basis of the Bryansk Front. Does this mean that a seat on the UN Security Council should go to Bryansk or to Voronezh? Or to both? And if Lévy also learns of the existence of the Volkhov or Steppe Front, one would probably expect that the thinker would develop similar groundbreaking ideas for the representation of the Volkhov and Steppe Front in the UN.

How about a permanent seat for Belarus? After all, the tactical formation that captured Berlin in April-May 1945 under the command of Zhukov was called the “1st Byelorussian Front”. And then there are the Baltic States. There were four “Baltic Fronts” in 1945. On the other hand, what has never existed is a “French Front”.*

Opinion

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Despite the apparent ridiculousness, Lévy’s proposal was published in a respected business journal and was the subject of serious debate. It is no coincidence that it coincided with a proposal by UN Secretary-General António Guterres to reform the organization under his authority, whose structure is outdated and no longer reflects current world conditions.

Maybe that’s why the Frenchman’s idea got some resonance. American blogger Daniel Larison, a PhD historian, laughed heartily at this, calling it “another stupid intervention by Lévy”. The American Conservative on the other hand, took the debate very seriously and called the proposal dangerous because its implementation would undermine stability in the world. The New York Sun on the other hand, supported Lévy’s idea with both hands: “The time has come,” says her editorial.

In fact, it is undisputed that the structure of the seats and votes in the UN Security Council reflects the balance of power in 1945 and has long been incompatible with the modern structure of a multipolar world. This was pointed out in particular by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in his most recent position as Chairman of the Security Council. In this context, he spoke out in favor of greater representation of the Global South in order to eliminate “the current inadmissible over-representation of the West in this most important UN body”.

Of course, the West would not accept such a change, as it does not fit the American idea of ​​a “rules-based world” at all. Just as Russia and China will never seriously discuss crazy ideas like Lévy’s or Ukraine’s.

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However, we should be aware that trial balloons like the French provocateur’s article will keep popping up. By hook or by crook, the West will always look for ways to force Russia out of the Security Council or to withdraw or limit its veto power – such formulas have already been proposed several times by different quarters.

Therefore, even such completely outlandish ideas should be considered with the utmost seriousness. After all, we are witnessing the West’s adventurous plans for Russia, which once seemed completely impossible, being put into practice. Therefore, one can laugh at Lévy’s idea of ​​the influence of the 1st Ukrainian Front on the modern UN Security Council; what should be seriously prepared for, however, are new attacks against Russia on all fronts – not only on the military ones.

Translation from Russian. The article appeared on ria.ru on May 27, 2023. The paragraph marked with * was added by RT.

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