15.2.2007: The Security Council Convenes

The first morning of the Security Council simulation started with the opening speeches of all the delegations. Various different positions were stated but all the delegations were unanimous in their resolve to bring stability to the area. The debate started off well and even the first-timers took the floor. Auxiliary representation from Somalia and Ethiopia were called to the session where they both took an active role from early on.

A news article from Reuters became the centre of attention for the afternoon as it headlined that Russian weapons smuggling route to Islamist extremists exposed. This revelation brought new elements to the debate. The Americans criticised the Russians harshly. Russia on the other hand denied all contact with Viktor Bout and his dealings and pledged to do their utmost to find out what was behind the Reuters? news. The rest of the day the debate lingered on general issues concerning Somalia and the composition of the prospective peace-keeping troops. Also the possible participation of Ethiopia in these troops was discussed. Finally some Asian countries offered to send approximately 8000 peacekeepers to beef up the AU lead mission.

After the day of debating, lobbying, persuading people and making compromises the delegates were welcomed by the Ministry of Defence at the extraordinary House of Estates. The event was hosted by Commander Arvi Tavaila who along with the generous reception tables and waiter and waitress angels (as one delegate dubbed them) made sure the guests enjoyed themselves. The delegates left the reception with a huge smile on their face and a friendly chattering accompanied our exit to our next place of merriment i.e. Underbar. From Underbar the FINMUNsters hurried to Onnela where the FINNHITS section proved to be a hit, even to our non-native delegates! Was all the propaganda finally working and were our delegates ready to learn Finnish, the most exciting (read: difficult) language in the world?!