Germany is set, for the first time, to be elected as a member of the UN Security Council.

The UN Security Council is made up of 15 members, namely five permanent members - the United States, Russia, China, France, and the United Kingdom - and ten elected countries serving a two-year term, with half of them being renewed annually in accordance with geographical distribution rules.

Three countries competed this year for the two seats allocated to Western Europe.

In the secret ballot, Portugal and Austria were elected, obtaining in the first round of voting the two-thirds of votes required - namely 134 and 131 votes.

Germany - which has already been part of the UN Security Council six times and has never failed to enter it - received only 104 votes.