UN Security Council holds second informal poll for next leader

EuroNews · 🇫🇷 public France · Aug 21, 2026 · 577 words · By Gavin Blackburn

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What to know about UN Security Council holds second informal poll for next leader

Costa Rica's Rebeca Grynspan was the front-runner after last month's first informal vote, in which the council's 15 members, including the five with veto power, pass judgment in secret on the candidates.

Claims checked 13

Techniques found 0

Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center80%

Right20%

5 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Why it matters

The UN's most powerful body, the Security Council, will meet later on Friday to hold another straw poll to gauge the popularity of a growing field of contenders to become the organisation's next secretary general.

Common ground

Argentina's Rafael Grossi, the current head of the UN nuclear watchdog (IAEA), is also a candidate along with Chile's Michelle Bachelet, Ecuador's Maria Fernanda Espinosa, Guyana's Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, Uganda's Olara Otunnu and Senegal's Macky Sall.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Follow-up questions

What concrete event or decision sits underneath the headline: UN Security Council holds second informal poll for next leader?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that the veto-wielding nations, France, Russia, China, the United Kingdom and the United States?
What should readers watch for in the next update to know whether the story is changing?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.euronews.com/2026/08/21/unsc-to-hold-second-informal-vote-for-organi…

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 13 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 7

schedule Pending 3

info Single Source 1

help Insufficient Evidence 1

verified Verified By Reference 1

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Claim 1: “the veto-wielding nations, France, Russia, China, the United Kingdom and the United States”

CORROBORATED

Cross-referenced reports from Al Jazeera and Deutsche Welle explicitly list France, Russia, China, the UK, and the US as the five permanent veto-wielding members.

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cross reference SUPPORTS — It has five permanent veto-wielding members: China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/6/4/who-is-khalilur-rahm…

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cross reference SUPPORTS — The US, UK, China, Russia, and France are the five permanent members of the council and have veto power.
https://www.dw.com/en/un-security-council-germany-temporary-…

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cross reference SUPPORTS — The Security Council has five permanent veto-wielding members: the United States, Russia, China, the United Kingdom and France.
https://www.dw.com/en/unpacking-germanys-campaign-for-a-un-s…

+ 1 more evidence source

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Claim 2: “Even if a candidate earns the required nine votes from the 15 available in the Security Council, they must also avoid a veto by the five major powers”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources confirm the requirement of at least nine votes and the absence of a veto from any permanent member for a candidate to be recommended.

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web search NEUTRAL — The Security Council ultimately adopts a resolution recommending a candidate for appointment to the 193-member UN General Assembly. This requires at least nine votes in favor and no vetoes.
https://en.vijesti.me/world-a/globus/820201/Costa-Rican-cand…

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web search NEUTRAL — "The first round of the straw poll has been held. Candidates will be informed of the results through the respective permanent representatives of the member states that nominated them.
https://orient.tm/en/posts/102952

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web search NEUTRAL — The UN secretary-general runs the organisation’s staff, speaks for it in crises and can bring threats to peace before the Security Council.A candidate needs at least nine of the Council’s 15 votes and…
https://www.riotimesonline.com/rebeca-grynspan-un-secretary-…

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Claim 3: “Each member state must anonymously assign each candidate one of three labels: "encourage," "discourage," or "no opinion."”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 4: “António Guterres, who will complete his second five-year term on 31 December”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources confirm that António Guterres' second five-year term ends on December 31, 2026.

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web search NEUTRAL — 31 — the day Guterres’ second five-year term as secretary-general ends. Russia called Guterres’ effort to give Türk four more years as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights “unprecedented.” None of hi…
https://www.arabnews.pk/node/2652144/world

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web search NEUTRAL — Antonio Guterres’ second five-year term as the head of the United Nations will end on December 31, 2026.In April of this year, the IAEA chief already mentioned that he was "seriously considering" runn…
https://tass.com/world/1969975

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web search NEUTRAL — António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres (born 30 April 1949) is a Portuguese politician and diplomat who, since 2017, has served as the ninth Secretary-General of the United Nations.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/António_Guterres

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Claim 5: “Costa Rica's Rebeca Grynspan was the front-runner after last month's first informal vote”

CORROBORATED

Multiple web search results confirm that Rebeca Grynspan topped the first round of the straw poll on July 30 and has been described as the frontrunner/lead in subsequent polls.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Rebeca Grynspan Mayufis (born 14 December 1955) is a Costa Rican economist who has served as Secretary-General of UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) since 2021. She was previously Secretary-General of …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebeca_Grynspan

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Events in the year 2025 in Costa Rica.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_in_Costa_Rica

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — A United Nations Secretary-General selection is currently being held to choose the next Secretary-General of the United Nations. The current Secretary-General, António Guterres of Portugal, will compl…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_United_Nations_Secretary-…

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 6: “along with Chile's Michelle Bachelet, Ecuador's Maria Fernanda Espinosa, Guyana's Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, Uganda's Olara Otunnu and Senegal's Macky Sall”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources list Michelle Bachelet, Maria Fernanda Espinosa, Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, Olara Otunnu, and Macky Sall as candidates in the race.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Bled Strategic Forum is a global ideas platform founded in August 2006 by the government of the Republic of Slovenia on initiative of Dimitrij Rupel, then Slovenian Minister of Foreign Affairs. Ev…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bled_Strategic_Forum

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Paris Peace Forum (French: Forum de Paris sur la Paix) is a French non-profit organisation created in March 2018. The organisation hosts an annual gathering of world leaders and heads of internati…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Peace_Forum

+ 3 more evidence sources

schedule

Claim 7: “the ballots of the five permanent members will become a different colour from those of the elected members”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 8: “Once a candidate clears those bars, their name will go to the General Assembly of all UN members for confirmation”

CORROBORATED

Sources confirm that the Security Council recommends a candidate to the General Assembly for final election/confirmation.

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web search NEUTRAL — "Any new secretary-general must return the UN to its primary purpose of maintaining peace and security in the world, rather than the absurd, politicized, woke ideology that has undermined the institut…
https://today.rtl.lu/news/world/un-holds-third-informal-poll…

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web search NEUTRAL — The UN comprises six principal organizations: General Assembly, Security Council, Economic and Social Council, International Court of Justice, Secretariat and Trusteeship Council which, together with …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations

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web search NEUTRAL — The UN Security Council will formally recommend a candidate to the General Assembly for election as the 10th UN secretary-general. The approval by the 193-member General Assembly has long been seen as…
https://www.omanobserver.om/article/1196409/world/americas/c…

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Claim 9: “Ecuador's Ivonne A-Baki threw her hat into the race to succeed António Guterres”

SINGLE SOURCE

While one web search result mentions Ivonne A-Baki as a candidate, the provided Wikipedia evidence for this specific claim is generic and does not explicitly confirm her candidacy. Only one specific source lists her.

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schedule

Claim 10: “It is tradition that the UN's top job should rotate between different regions”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

help

Claim 11: “The Security Council straw poll was devised in the early 1980s in an attempt to break a deadlock between two candidates shut down by vetoes”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was found in the provided search results to confirm the specific origin date (early 1980s) or the specific reason (deadlock between two candidates) for the creation of the straw poll mechanism.

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Claim 12: “Argentina's Rafael Grossi, the current head of the UN nuclear watchdog (IAEA), is also a candidate”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources confirm Rafael Grossi is the Director General of the IAEA and has been nominated/confirmed as a candidate for UN Secretary-General.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an intergovernmental organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including n…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Atomic_Energy_Ag…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Rafael Mariano Grossi (born 29 January 1961) is an Argentine diplomat. He has been serving as Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) since 3 December 2019. He was formerly t…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rafael_Grossi

+ 3 more evidence sources

verified

Claim 13: “the council's 15 members, including the five with veto power, pass judgment in secret on the candidates”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

Wikipedia and Britannica confirm the Security Council has 15 members, including five permanent members with veto power.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Membership of the United Nations Security Council is held by the five permanent members and ten elected, non-permanent members. Being elected requires a two-thirds majority vote from the United Nation…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_members_of_the_United_…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The United Nations Security Council (UNSC or UN Security Council) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations, and is the United Nations' executive branch, having primary responsibility f…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Security_Counci…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The United Nations Security Council veto power is the power of each of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States) to veto …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Security_Counci…

+ 3 more evidence sources

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.