UNESCO approves US proposal to rejoin organization without completely settling its debt

The 193 member states of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) approved on Friday during an Extraordinary Session of the General Conference, the proposal submitted by the United States to rejoin the organization.

After two days of discussions, 132 member states voted in favor and 10 against the return of the U.S. to the organization from which the U.S. has withdrawn twice, causing a negative impact on the organization's work.

The U.S. will fund the equivalent of 22 percent of the organization's regular budget, according to a press release from UNESCO.

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  Adopting a resolution on the US returning to UNESCO as a full-fledged member without completely settling its debt creates a dangerous precedent for the organization, Rinat Alyautdinov, Russia's Permanent Representative to UNESCO, told TASS.

"A dangerous precedent has been created for UNESCO and the entire UN system in general - the founding principle of international law, the principle of the sovereign equality of states which was the basic one for international relations, has been violated," he said. The diplomat noted that other countries had not received such concessions as the US and an amendment allowing to do so was rejected during debates on the resolution.