Germany’s justifiably criticised former foreign minister Annalena Baerbock was elected president of the 80th session of the UN General Assembly on Monday, June 2nd.
Baerbock’s tenure as foreign minister under the previous left-wing German government was a diplomatic disaster and was mired in controversy.
Instead of representing her country’s interests, Baerbock opted to pursuse an ideologically driven progressive-feminist foreign policy, a lax pro-migration policy, and was instrumental in the government’s efforts to crack down on free speech.
During her time as foreign minister, Germany had no clear strategy on how to deal with the war in Ukraine, and the once pro-peace Green party (of which Baerbock is a member) succeeded only in driving the government to spend millions of euros of taxpayers’ money on arming Ukraine.
A new president at the UN General Assembly is chosen for the largely ceremonial role every year in an uncontested election, in which countries rotate to nominate a candidate.
The vote usually takes place by acclamation, but this year Russia, which opposed Baerbock’s candidacy, had called for a secret ballot.
Russia said “Baerbock has repeatedly proved her incompetence, extreme bias, and lack of understanding of the basic principles of diplomacy.”
“As the President of the General Assembly, I will engage in a trust-based dialogue with all Member States,” Baerbrock said after the election. “My door will always be open for everyone.”
