The Latest: Bosnia asks COVID-19 vaccine be available to all

The Latest from the U.N. General Assembly (all times EDT):

9 a.m.

The chairman of Bosnia’s three-member presidency is urging the world’s nations at their first virtual U.N. meeting to make a coronavirus vaccine available to all of mankind.

Sefik Dzaferovic said in his pre-recorded speech to the high-level General Assembly session that the past few years have seen a “crisis of multilateralism” at international organizations including the United Nations.

He said the 193-member world body has become an object of dispute but that the COVID-19 pandemic has shown that the U.N. has extraordinary significance in today’s globalized world.

“The pandemic has shown that the largest problems of today can no longer be solved by one, three or five states individually,” Dzaferovic said. “These difficulties can only be solved through transnational, multilateral response, based on dialogue and cooperation of as many states as possible.”

He expressed gratitude to the European Union, which Bosnia is a candidate to join, for its strong support to the country’s economy and health system during the pandemic.

But Dzaferovic said Bosnia needs stronger support from the EU to deal with an increasing number of migrants in the country trying to get to Western Europe.