Russian Foreign Ministry On Reelection to UN Rights, Social Panel

Russia's re-election to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights and the UN Commission for Social Development "testifies to the high authority of our country as well as the interest of most states in seeing Russia among the most active and busy partners on the international stage," Alexander Yakovenko, the official spokesman for the Russian Foreign Minister, commented in response to reporters' queries.

He recalled that April 29-30 saw elections to the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) human rights and social development bodies.

Yakovenko said Russia's re-election to the social development panel had been "facilitated by the balanced, principled and consistent line of our country" during the course of the recent 59th session of the Commission in Geneva.

The spokesman pledged that Russia intended to use its membership in the bodies to "have its input into the tackling of pressing social and human rights tasks the international community is facing as well as facilitating the increase of constructive cooperation between states in that sphere."