Foreign Minister Konstantinos Kombos met Rebeca Grynspan and Rafael Grossi, two of the candidates to succeed Antonio Guterres as UN Secretary-General, on the sidelines of this year’s UN General Assembly. Guterres’s successor takes office on January 1, 2027.
Grynspan led the Security Council’s third informal straw poll, held on Friday, September 18, before the General Assembly session, with nine “encourage” votes and five “discourage”. She had topped the first poll with ten “encourage” votes and just one “discourage”, before slipping back in the second. Grossi received five “encourage” and eight “discourage” in the third poll and fell to fourth place, behind Otunnu, according to the 1 for 8 Billion campaign.
Nine positive votes are the threshold in the Council, but a candidate must also avoid a veto from any of the permanent members. The Council has not yet switched to colour-coded ballots, which separate the votes of the five permanent members from those of the ten elected members, so it is not officially known whether any of the “discourage” votes are in effect vetoes. Sources quoted by PassBlue believe two of the five negative votes against Grynspan may have come from China and Russia.
Rebeca Grynspan
Grynspan, an economist, has been Secretary-General of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) since 2021. She was previously Ibero-American Secretary-General from 2014 to 2021, Associate Administrator of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) from 2010 to 2014 and Vice-President of Costa Rica from 1994 to 1998.
She cites as her main negotiating achievement her role in the Russia-Ukraine agreement to open a Black Sea shipping corridor for grain. If chosen, she would be the first woman and the first Jewish person to lead the UN.
Rafael Grossi
Grossi, a veteran Argentine diplomat, has headed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) since 2019. Argentina formally nominated him on November 26, 2025, making him the first official candidate. He previously served as Argentina’s ambassador to Austria and its representative to the IAEA and other Vienna-based organisations.
He points to his experience in crisis management, particularly at Zaporizhzhia, where he says he negotiated six ceasefires to allow repairs that would prevent a serious accident. According to Foreign Policy, he may be Washington’s preferred candidate because of his experience on the Iran file.
Next straw poll
No date has been set for the fourth straw poll. One possibility is to hold it straight after the UN’s High-Level Week, which ends on September 28, and there had even been talk of holding it on the week’s final day.
The other is a short delay. After Friday’s result, some analysts believe the Council may wait so that any new candidates have time to meet member states.
When the Council moves to colour-coded ballots, it will be a sign that the race is entering its final phase.
How the choice is made
Under Article 97 of the UN Charter, the General Assembly appoints the Secretary-General on the recommendation of the Security Council. The Council makes its formal recommendation by adopting a resolution in a closed meeting, and once the Council agrees, General Assembly approval is considered a formality.
The winner is usually chosen and appointed between October and December, and precedent points to October. In both 2006 and 2016, the last informal polls took place in early October. In 2016, the Council recommended Guterres on October 6, and the General Assembly approved him a few days later.
If the fourth poll fails to produce a candidate none of the permanent members objects to, and especially if new candidates enter the race, the decision could easily slip into November.
