Opinion: UN Is Still A Valid Institution

'The UN is still a valid institution,' announced Chairman of the Federation Council Committee for International Affairs Mikhail Margelov yesterday at the public debate Russia and Germany in a new Europe. As a Rosbalt correspondent reports, Mr Margelov said that although the UN Security Council had failed to prevent a war, it had at least refused to endorse it and for this reason 'it is too early to say that the UN is no longer valid. Even though the UN can not always prevent conflicts, it still plays an important role during and after the conflicts,' he emphasised.

He also added that the British-American coalition 'realise that, sooner or later, they will have to accept the authority of the UN and for this reason the US and British leaders discuss the role of the UN in post-war Iraq every time they meet.' Mr Margelov said that 'freedom can not exist without law and for this reason the Iraq problem must be dealt with by the UN. This view is shared by Russia, France and Germany.'