BERLIN, Jan. 25 (UPI) -- The European Union's external relations commissioner says the EU it will seek a seat on the U.N. Security Council, the EU Observer reported Tuesday.
In Berlin, Benita Ferrero-Waldner said Monday the EU should have a seat on the Security Council given its "foreign policy significance." She said she was "not making the case for a European superpower ... Europe is not in the act of building up a global empire."
Many EU members oppose the plan, including Germany, which wants to gain its own a seat on the Security Council.
In New York, German Foreign Minister Joschka Fisher called the idea "unrealistic" and said the only way Germany would support a single EU seat would be in the unlikely event France and Britain give up their seats.
"This will not happen in the near future, so the debate is over before it has even started."
There are currently 15 members on the U.N. Security Council, including five permanent members with veto-wielding power: Britain, France, China, Russia and the United States. The 10 other seats are elected by the General Assembly every two years.
