On April 21 and 22, the selection dialogue for the future UN Secretary General begins. Is Mrs. Țoiu negotiating Romania's position with someone?
The new Secretary General of the UN will be elected in the fall, when the two-year mandate of the Portuguese Antonio Guterres at the head of an organization that is now facing various protest movements, requests for dissolution, defamation campaigns, but which, despite everything, remains (until another) the only world forum that still allows the gathering of representatives of over 180 nations in the same room.
Oana Țoiu PHOTO Profimedia
Democratic elections?
Of course, yes, but that process is extremely complicated and has now reached a paroxysm due to the super-protectionist American policies based on the Trump doctrine of withdrawing from as many international organizations as possible, thus upsetting the balance of forces that seemed designed to last in favor of peace and globalism since the initial UN meeting in San Francisco in 1945.
Why am I saying this?
The candidate proposal that will be sent to the General Assembly and put to a vote, who makes the first decision is the Security Council: the five permanent members with the various groups of its Member States will deliberate, negotiate, renegotiate the favorites supported by the camps that have already formed and bring to the stage national, regional or zonal interests, forming sui generis alliances that now come up with their own solutions for what the UN of tomorrow should be and the credibility of its power to intervention.
What is Romania's position?
Indelicate question. This problem does not exist in the public speech of Foreign Minister Țoiu. In my opinion, it would have been normal to have at least internally negotiated the main positions of Romania regarding the difficult issues and, as such, to figure out whether or not we will continue the tradition of “neither that, nor that” characteristic of embassy officials appointed on the party line who always want to cover their backs. Especially since the government in Bucharest is changing and we don't know…
Anyway, in anticipation of the debates and the significant interests of others, those who know what diplomacy and high-level contacts mean, here is, at this moment, the “short list” of candidates for the post of UN Secretary General, each with strong arguments but also with unyielding opponents because the competition must always be set against the current process of dissolving the established international order and the rapid rise of new ruthless dictators for which it is not and will not be ever a problem to decide to set fire to the planet.
The first candidate would be the Argentine Rafael Grossicurrently Director General of International Atomic Energy Agency (you can see here https://en.yenisafak.com/world/iaea-chief-grossi-announces-candidacy-for-un-secretary-general-post-3709945 the presentation of his professional profile), a personality at the center of the current conflicts of the last period, both through his desperate warnings regarding the temptation of some belligerent powers to transform nuclear-electric power plants into “legitimate military targets” but also with a firm position of denying to the Israeli-American accusations about the imminence of the moment when Iran could have the nuclear weapon, i.e. repeating the scenario that justified the invasion of Iraq then led by Saadam Hussein.
The second candidate has a less well-known name in Romania, the country that, after the Revolution, programmatically broke most ties with Africa: Macky Sall
https://www.un.org/sg/sites/default/files/document/2026-03/macky-sall-cv-fr.pdf
he was the President of Senegal (2012-2024) has a regional influence and has the support of Burundi, the country that secures the presidency of the African Union in 2026. Interesting perspective because, without any doubt, African influence is on the rise and corresponds to the repositioning of the interests of major powers in the area, especially Russia and China, completing a BRICS power arc supported by South Africa.
Michelle Bachelet Jeria it is
a personality who enjoys recognition throughout the world and for a long time, with certain direct and unreserved support from UN agencies and organizations in the humanitarian area and in relation to civil society (the real one, with dedicated actions and not a poorly disguised political cover) and who would symbolize the diversification of the political profile of the UN, so much hoped for by some countries. On February 2, 2026, it was the official proposal submitted by Chile, Brazil and Mexico, here you have an impressive CV https://www.un.org/sg/sites/default/files/document/2026-02/bachelet-cv-en.pdf and it mentions two of his former responsibilities: UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (period 2018-2022) and Director of the dedicated UN organization women 92010-2013), former president in Chile, minister of defense and health. It is considered the desired signal to mark the future refocusing of the UN on the issue of respect for human rights.
In the same direction – perhaps even on an even more intense political line – is the possible orientation provided by another candidate, the Argentine Virginia Silvia Isabel Gamba
https://www.un.org/sg/sites/default/files/document/2026-03/gamba-cv-en.pdf, UN Under-Secretary-General, Special Representative on the issue of children used in armed conflicts and (in the period 2024-2025) UN Under-Secretary-General and Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on the topic of preventing genocide and hatred, a major topic of utmost topicality and which leads directly to the great controversies surrounding the future of actions triggered by the International Criminal Court, on the topic of genocide, against some UN member states and some of their political and military leaders.
Finally, another famous name follows: Rebecca Grynspan
https://www.un.org/sg/sites/default/files/document/2026-03/grynspan-cv-en_0.pdf
,
former vice-president in Costa Rica, in the past performing numerous functions within the United Nations system or in other major international organizations, former Secretary General of UNCTAD, former Administrator of UNDP (UN Development Programme), secretary general of the Ibero-American Conference.
Here's the official schedule for interactive candidate dialogues on April 21 starting at 10 a.m. (EDT):
Webcast Interactive Dialogues with Candidates in the General Assembly
In accordance with General Assembly resolution 79/327, the President of the General Assembly will convene webcast interactive dialogues with all candidates for the position of Secretary-General.
On 21 and 22 April 2026 interactive dialogues will be held with the nominated candidates and broadcast live on UN WebTV.
I just wanted to show you how I know, how different countries have learned and play their chances at a high level, countries, even small ones, even not long ago considered irrelevant or permanently anchored in spaces dominated by neo-colonial great powers of all types, stars and colors. How they constantly train their groups of diplomats – in this case those specialized in the work in international organizations and how they build a smart country lobby with future horizons and playing fields in mind.
What would you like Mrs. Toiu to say in this context? What could she and was she prepared to say? Exactly what you suspect. And the results will be the same from now on.
