Trinidad and Tobago was elected by the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday, receiving 181 votes, well above the two-thirds majority required for a seat on the 15-member Security Council. The country will join Austria, Kyrgyzstan, Portugal and Zimbabwe as newly elected members beginning Jan. 1, 2027, replacing countries whose terms expire at the end of next year. The Security Council is the only U.N. body empowered to adopt legally binding resolutions, including sanctions and the authorization of peacekeeping and military actions.

The election represents one of Trinidad and Tobago’s most prominent international diplomatic successes in recent years. Government officials had spent months campaigning for the seat, which was allocated under the Latin American and Caribbean regional grouping. The country previously served on the Security Council in 1985-86 and has promoted issues including international law, security cooperation and the concerns of small states during its bid for the position.

The United Nations headquarters in New York, where member states elected five new non-permanent members to the Security Council.