Argentina officially proposes IAEA chief Grossi as candidate for UN secretary general
Argentina has officially proposed chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi as candidate for United Nations Secretary General, TASS reports.
"The Republic of Argentina has the honor to propose Rafael Grossi, the IAEA Director General, as candidate for UN Secretary General in 2027-2031," the country’s foreign ministry said.
The IAEA chief has demonstrated "the ability of promoting political dialogue amid conflicts and serious international crises," which makes his a right candidate for UN secretary general, it said.
On Wednesday, the UN Security Council and the General Assembly published a joint letter to initiate the procedure of electing the global organization’s new secretary general.
Candidates to the post are nominated by member states, and each country can nominate only one contender. For the nomination, countries are to send relevant letters to the chairs of the Security Council and the General Assembly. In turn, candidates are to present their vision of the organization’s development, and declare their sources of income. If a candidate is working at a UN body, he is to suspend his duties for the period of election to avoid conflict of interest.
The election itself is expected to take place in late July 2026.
The term of the current head of the global organization, Antonio Guterres, ends on December 31, 2026. Rafael Grossi and Rebeca Grynspan, Secretary General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), have declared their intention to run for UN secretary general.
The UN secretary-general is elected by the UN Security Council and approved by the General Assembly for a five-year term with a possibility of re-election. The number of terms is not limited, but the longest-serving secretaries served for ten years. In accordance with the existing practice, a secretary-general should not come from the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - Russia, the United Kingdom, China, the United States and France.
As stated previously, the UN Security Council and the General Assembly have published a joint letter to initiate the procedure of electing the global organization’s new secretary-general.