Former
Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Guterres is set to become the next
United Nations secretary-general, after the 15 Security Council members
agreed to put his name forward to a formal vote.
Guterres, who was head of the UN's refugee agency for 10 years until 2015, emerged as the Security Council's runaway favorite after the latest in a series of straw polls on Wednesday.
Vitaly
Churkin, the Russian ambassador to the UN and current Security Council
president, told reporters that Guterres would face a vote in the
Security Council on Thursday.
"Today, after our sixth straw poll we have a clear favorite, and his name is Antonio Guterres," he said.
