By KYIV. Nov 10 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The representative of Russia was not elected to the International Court of Justice for the first time on Thursday – he lost to a representative of Romania, former Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu, judge of the European Court of Human Rights Mykola Ihnatovsky said.
“Today’s election of Professor of international Law Bogdan Aurescu, former Romanian Foreign Minister, as a judge of the International Court of Justice of the United Nations means that for the first time there will be no Soviet/Russian judge in the ‘World Court’ in The Hague,” Hnatovsky wrote on Facebook.
According to him, “this is the second case in history when a permanent member of the Security Council will not be represented in the International Court of Justice of the United Nations (the first was the United Kingdom in 2017).”
This was also confirmed by Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, noting that “this is a victory for Romania, for the primacy of international law, reflecting our strong commitment for the rules-based international order.”
“Congratulations to my Romanian Advisor Bogdan Aurescu and the entire Romanian diplomacy for his election as first ever Romanian Judge at the UN International Court,” the Romanian leader said on X.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in turn, congratulated representatives of Australia, Mexico, South Africa, Romania and the United States on their victory in the elections to the International Court of Justice of the United Nations in the Security Council and in the General Assembly.
“The UN has begun to cleanse itself of Russia’s malicious influence. For the first time in UN history, its member states denied Russia the right to administer justice on their behalf in the International Court of Justice. The world sees who destroys international law instead of protecting it,” Zelenskyy stressed.
