NEW YORK — The United Arab Emirates was elected on Friday to serve on the United Nations Security Council alongside Albania, Brazil, Gabon, and Ghana for the term 2022-2023. Each candidate needed two-thirds of the votes in the 193-nation UN General Assembly’s secret ballot. The UAE received 179 votes. Albania got 175 votes, compared to 181 for Brazil, 185 for Ghana and 183 for Gabon. The UAE has been a member of the UN since the country’s founding in 1971 and has only held a seat once before on the Security Council in 1986-1987. The UAE received endorsements by the League of Arab States in 2012 and by the Asia-Pacific Group in June 2020. The UAE launched its campaign in September 2020 and held virtual briefings with various regional groups of Member States to the UN. These meetings reinforced the UAE’s strong relationship with partners and reaffirmed its steadfast commitment to proactively listen to, learn from, and reflect the views of the entire UN membership while serving on the Council. "The UAE has always been ready to shoulder its share of responsibility for the world’s most pressing challenges in collaboration with the international community and this was the driving force of our bid," said UAE"s Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan. Celebrating the UAE"s election, Abu Dhabi"s Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed, who is also the deputy supreme commander of the UAE armed forces, tweeted, saying: "Today the UN elected the UAE as one of five members to the Security Council for 2022-2023. We pledge that our team of dedicated diplomats will pursue the same spirit of global engagement and collaboration that has guided the UAE since its founding in 1971." Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid, who is also the vice president and the prime minister of the UAE, also took to Twitter, saying: "The election of the UAE to the Security Council for the period 2022-2023 reflects its active diplomacy, international position, and its distinguished development model." "All thanks to the Emirati diplomatic team led by Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed. We look forward to working as an active and positive member of the UN Security Council," Sheikh Mohammed added. — With inputs from agencies