Lynn Boylan: EU silence is undermining the United Nations
Lynn Boylan addresses the weakening of the United Nations, arguing that the UN was created to prevent war and must be defended against attacks by powerful states. She criticises the EU's inaction over Gaza, calls for accountability for Israel and the United States, and demands concrete UN reform, including ending the veto and adding Global South permanent seats.
Founding purpose and present danger
Lynn Boylan reminds viewers that the United Nations was founded after the Second World War to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war. She warns that current actions by the United States and Israel are plunging the world into instability and attacking the authority of the UN system.
EU inaction and Gaza
Boylan directly challenges the European Union for failing to act to stop what she calls genocide in Gaza, arguing that this silence actively undermines international law and the UN. She stresses the need for states to uphold UN processes and to hold actors accountable.
Calls for UN reform
The speech sets out clear reform demands: an end to the veto on the Security Council, and the creation of permanent seats for Global South countries. Boylan also highlights the need to implement UN processes such as a self-determination referendum in Western Sahara.
Consequences and stakes
Boylan frames these reforms as essential to preserving multilateralism and the UN's capacity to prevent future conflicts. The address is a call for countries to stand up for international law and to ensure UN decisions are supported and implemented.
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Go raibh maith agat, Uachtarán. The United Nations was founded to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war. It was not born out of a naive idealism, but out of the horrors of the Second World War and a realisation by the survivors that humanity's best possible hope was co-operation and multilateralism. And as the United States and Israel plunge the world into instability and attack the UN, we need countries to stand up for the UN system and international law. And the EU's failure to take any action to stop the genocide in Gaza and to hold countries like Israel accountable is actively undermining the UN system. We need to see the UN processes actually supported and implemented. For example, the self-determination referendum in Western Sahara. The UN needs real reform. We need an end to the veto. We need Global South permanent seats for Global South countries on the Security Council.
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