His announcement follows the election of former Romanian Foreign Minister Bohdan Aurescu as the new judge from the Eastern European region, defeating Russian nominee Kirill Gevorgjan.
“The UN has begun to cleanse itself of Russia’s malicious influence," Zelensky said in a post on the X platform, underscoring the significance of the decision.
"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,” he added.
The voting results saw Aurescu receive 117 votes, vs. 77 for Gevorgjan.
The election also marks the second instance where a permanent member of the UN Security Council is not represented in the ICJ, the first being the UK in 2017.
New judges from Mexico, the United States, Australia and South Africa were also elected to the court, which comprises 15 judges, each serving a nine-year term.
The ICJ, structured to have one-third of its membership elected every three years, requires each judge to represent a specific regional group and gain support from members of the UN Security Council and General Assembly.
(jh/gs)
Source: PAP
