Netherlands, Italy to split two-year UN Security Council seat

After five rounds of deadlocked voting over a coveted temporary seat on the UN Security Council, the Netherlands and Italy agreed to share it. The details of the agreement will be worked out in the coming days. If it goes through, Italy will take the seat next year and the Netherlands will have it in 2018, Minister Bert Koenders of Foreign Affairs announced according to Bloomberg. Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni called the compromise a "message of unity between two European countries". To gain a seat on the UN Security Council you need a two-thirds majority vote. In the first round of voting Sweden took the first of the two available seats. The result: Sweden 134, Netherlands 128 (just three votes short), and Italy 113, according to the Volkskrant. In the following rounds the Netherlands and Italy were neck in neck for the remaining seat - Netherlands-Italy results: 99-92, 96-94 and 96-95. In a final effort to name the seat, the vote was opened to other West-European countries, but that did not work either. In an effort to prevent an endless voting procedure, the Netherlands suggested this diplomatic compromise. The two countries will work out the details in the coming days, according to RTL Nieuws. It is not clear whether the Security Council will have to vote on it.

#UNSCElection @PaoloGentiloni: we wanted to give a message of unity between EU countries. This is a win for the @UN pic.twitter.com/m5KNGi7cbh

— Italy UN New York (@ItalyUN_NY) June 28, 2016