New York/Wien — The United States walked out of a UN Security Council meeting on Monday in a striking protest linked to the reappointment of Austria’s Volker Türk as the UN’s top human rights official.
The diplomatic row began after the UN General Assembly gave Türk a second four-year term, despite opposition from the US, Russia and Israel. Washington accused him of being quick to criticize democratic states while treating authoritarian governments too gently, according to Newsflix. France, however, defended Türk as a strong and independent voice.
Tensions rose further when the American delegation left the chamber as France was speaking during the Ukraine session. US representatives called the French remarks disrespectful and said they would continue their protest unless Paris changed its tone.
The confrontation has exposed a wider rift inside the UN, where disagreements over human rights, Russia’s war in Ukraine and the role of multilateral institutions are growing sharper. For Austria, the dispute has placed one of its most prominent diplomats at the center of an international clash.
