Sweden, Kazakhstan, Ethiopia, Bolivia elected to U.N. Security Council for 2017-18

Reuters
Ethiopia's Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn attends the opening ceremony of the 26th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union (AU) at the AU headquarters in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, January 30, 2016. REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Sweden, Kazakhstan, Ethiopia and Bolivia were elected to the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday for 2017-18, but further voting was due to take place to decide the final seat with Italy and the Netherlands almost locked in a tie. After three rounds of voting by the 193-member U.N. General Assembly, The Netherlands had 96 votes, while Italy had 94. Countries need more than two-thirds of the vote to win a seat. The General Assembly elected Sweden with 134 votes in favor, Ethiopia with 185 and Bolivia with 183 in the first round of voting. Kazakhstan beat Thailand with 138 votes in favor in the second round of voting. The new members will replace Angola, Malaysia, New Zealand, Spain and Venezuela on the council from Jan. 1, 2017. The council is made up of 10 elected members - five voted on each year - and five permanent veto-powers who are the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia. The council is the only U.N. body that can make legally binding decisions. (Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)