Kosovo's friend, former German diplomat, takes over UN Assembly

Annalena Baerbock, former German Foreign Minister, cannot launch the world's big scene: Until early May, when Friedrich Merz (CDU) was elected as Chancellor, the 44-year-old Green Party politician was still Germany's top diplomat. On June 2nd, she was elected president of the UN General Assembly (OKB) in New York.

However, elections were not unanimously held with adulation as usual, but with a secret vote. According to diplomats, this was demanded by Russia. A little humiliation from Moscow. As minister, Baerbox had always criticised Russia's aggression against Ukraine hard and openly. In the end, it received 167 out of 193 possible votes in New York. Now she's taking over. She has resigned from her mandate in Bundestag.

Not a position of particular prestige

For a year, the former party chairman and Chancellorial candidate will lead and prepare her party meetings in New York. It is not a particularly prestigious position, as it requires much discussion behind closed doors on topics to be discussed at the General Assembly.

But a new UN Secretary General will be elected next year, and Baerbox will help prepare these elections, working with UN ambassadors of 193 member states. The current Secretary General, Antónnio Guterres, is in office until the end of 2026.

From her former country, Germany, not all politicians have supported the Green Party's bold politician as she begins her mandate in New York. At the CDU regional conference, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that in the new government, “tormentary discussions” such as those of the last years” with the foreign policy this lady currently had in New York” belongs to the past.

In fact, Baerbox has always been direct and polarizing not only against Russia but also against China. A member of the previous government, consisting of the SPD, Green and FDP, which preferred to remain anonymous, told DW that it had always seemed strange that the least diplomatic <x0 person I know” had become foreign minister.

Back Book Selection

The appointment of the ambitious Green Policy for the post to the UN did not go very well: In March, it was announced that the former government had named Badbox for the job in New York. It was long known that this post belonged to the group of Western European states and that Germany could appoint a candidate. At the end of March, government spokesman Stephen Hebestreet said in Berlin that Baherbock was a highly qualified “for the job”. The appointment was also discussed with the next government, with Friedrich Merz, the next Chancellor, respectively.

But Germany had actually assigned the highly respected Helga Schmidt diplomat for this job in New York. Schmidt, born 1960, had a perfect career at the Federal Foreign Ministry.

Among other things, she was head of former Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer's office, which served from 1998 to 2005. It was later considered one of the leading authors of the nuclear agreement between the EU and other states and Iran, which was successfully completed in 2015, but was later interrupted by US President Donald Trump during his first term in office.

Backock now wants to be a uniting force

After her appointment, Backback said in Berlin: “As President, if I am elected, I will serve 193 member states, large and small. As an honest mediator. Like a force of unity. With an open ear and an open door. ”

While on her last trip abroad as Foreign Minister to Danish Island Bornholm, she added: “we are in a situation in which we are more aware as never before of the importance of our Constitution, Founding Law, European rule of peace and the United Nations Charter.” The United Nations has existed for 80 years, and their values must be protected and supported daily.

Backerbock's surprise appointment triggered reactions and frustrations immediately. Former head of the Munich Security Conference (MSC), Christoph Heusgen, said in an interview with the berglinese newspaper Tagesspiegel, that it was “a violation of the law to replace the best and most experienced German international diplomat with an outdated” model. Heusgen said Helga Schmidt was a good candidate.

Green Double Leaves Politics
Later in Bornholm, Annalena Baerbox himself cited her time as Germany's foreign minister from December 2021 to May of this year as an advantage: “As Foreign Minister, I traveled a lot around the world. This included regions a little farther away, such as the Middle East. When I took office, I could never have imagined that I would visit several Gulf states and Arab countries more often than European EU partners, due to the challenging situation in the Middle East. This creates even more intense ties with these countries. ”

Backing up by Baerbock comes at a time when former vice-kancellari and Economic Affairs Minister Robert Habeck has also left German politics. He has now resigned from his mandate in Bundestag and will teach at the Institute for International Studies in Copenhagen, along with other commitments. Baherbox and Habeck were the party's two leading politicians, who now leave domestic politics. /DW/