A German envoy said Friday that Germany would undertake more responsibility for international peacekeeping if it received a permanent membership on the United Nations Security Council as part of ongoing U.N. reform. Volker Ruehe, an envoy from German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and an opposition party politician, told journalists that such expanded responsibilities would also mandate further modernization of the German military, dpa reported. Japan, Germany, India and Brazil are seeking to gain permanent seats on the council under the G-4 proposal being considered as part of a massive reform of the United Nations. Britain and France hold permanent seats with veto power along with the United States, Russia and China. The G-4 countries have indicated they would not insist on veto powers. Ruehe, chairman of the German Bundestag's Foreign Affairs Committee, has been meeting government officials in Washington this week. He said that Washington is "in no way" overtly opposing Germany's application, reported dpa. He said Washington was exercising restraint in any comments about U.N. reform, which was "in fact not bad" for Germany's ambitions. --More 2324 Local Time 2024 GMT
