Slovenian President Dr Nataša Pirc Musar has reiterated her call to abolish the United Nations (UN) Security Council’s absolute veto power, arguing that the privilege 'corrupts absolutely' and has left the UN in a 'big struggle' to uphold its mission of global peace and security.“When you do have something absolute, it is always a problem,” she said. “You know what the saying is?, ‘Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely’. It is so true, also in politics,” Pirc Musar said in her lecture, titled “The Realities of Multipolarism vs the Need for Multilateralism”.She was speaking at Hamad Bin Khalifa University’s Minaretein Auditorium Monday, addressing global governance, artificial intelligence, and gender equity. The event forms part of her official visit to Qatar and reflected HBKU’s ongoing efforts to foster international dialogue on diplomacy and leadership.Elected in 2022 as Slovenia’s first woman head of state, Pirc Musar used the platform to make an appeal for UN reform, particularly targeting what she described as the “hybrid war” within the Security Council, where five permanent members – the United States, United Kingdom, France, Russia, and China – hold veto powers.The Slovenian president noted that while France and the United Kingdom have refrained from using the veto since 1986, other permanent members continue to use, and in some cases, abuse the power, stalling collective action in times of global crisis. “For 25 years we have been discussing UN reform. For 25 years we didn’t make any steps,” she added.Pirc Musar outlined three proposals to curb the Security Council’s unchecked authority: Restricting voting rights of countries under discussion in the Council; banning the use of vetoes in cases involving mass atrocities, crimes against humanity, or genocide; and subjecting veto decisions to review by the UN General Assembly, where a two-thirds majority could overrule or confirm them.The Slovenian president cited her September address at the UN General Assembly, where Slovenia urged the body to seek an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice on the legality and limits of the veto power in cases of humanitarian crises. “Now is the time to discuss this really very important topic,” she said, adding that “we don’t have another 25 years to waste.”Pirc Musar also touched on the interconnectedness of global issues, from wars in Ukraine, Palestine, and Sudan to the ethical implications of artificial intelligence: “Everything is interconnected,” she stressed, adding that knowledge-sharing and cultural dialogue are vital to overcoming political egoism and sustaining multilateral co-operation.“Knowledge is to be shared and not a single country on this planet has all the knowledge it needs,” she said. “If you only stick to your own country and are not willing to share, that is egoistic.”Pirc Musar also tackled the theme of gender equity, linking it to the broader struggle for fairness and inclusion in global governance.Echoing her faith in multilateralism, she described the UN as “the only multilateral body covering the whole planet,” insisting that it “should be the diamond of international politics.”
