Security Council backs António Guterres to be next U.N. Secretary General

The United Nations Security Council reached a surprisingly swift consensus Wednesday on its choice for the next secretary general of the United Nations: António Guterres, a former prime minister of Portugal.

Mr. Guterres, who ran the United Nations refugee agency for 10 years, had been the clear front-runner, and was apparently the choice of the otherwise deeply divided Security Council. 

Mr. Guterres, who will face a formal Council vote on Thursday morning, will have his name submitted to the 193-member General Assembly for approval. 

If elected, he will succeed the current secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, whose second five-year term expires at the end of this year. He would preside over the United Nations at a time when it has faltered in carrying out its chief mandate — to stop the scourge of war — and confronts an ever-widening rift between Russia and the West.