Two weeks before the UN General Assembly, Foreign Minister Baerbock is campaigning for rethinking global cooperation. States rightly demanded more say.
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has called for reforms in the EU, the UN and the World Trade Organization WTO in view of the global shift in power. Germany wants to rethink global cooperation internationally, said the Greens politician on Monday at the conference of heads of German missions abroad at the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin. You will appear as a team player “who knows your own strengths and who lets the strengths of your partners come into play”.
Baerbock spoke two weeks before the UN General Assembly in New York, to which Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and the Foreign Minister are expected. There will also be a ceremony to mark Germany’s 50th anniversary as a member of the United Nations.
A lot has happened since the last reform
Baerbock complained that the UN Security Council was last reformed 60 years ago. Since then, not only Germany has been reunited, but around 60 countries in Africa, Latin America and Asia have also made their way to independence. “These states are rightly asking for a say and a proper seat at the table.” The same applies to international financial institutions, health committees and formats such as the G20 round of leading economic powers, which also includes the African Union as a permanent member at the table.
The international instruments would have to be improved “if we want to meet today’s challenges,” said Baerbock. If, on the other hand, you dive into these questions, “others will be there and answer them,” she said, referring to China or Russia, some of which are heavily involved in African and Latin American countries. “Above all, China has an advantage where we offer too little or advertise our offers too little,” said Baerbock.
Missed opportunities in the south?
The Director-General of the World Trade Organization, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, accused European governments of having missed opportunities in countries of the Global South compared to China. So it is a reality on the African continent that people are seeing the effects of new and better infrastructure provided by Chinese aid. At the same time, Nigerian Baerbock and the ambassadors called out that multilateral institutions such as the WTO are part of a “magic toolbox” that could be used to build bridges to these countries.
The term “Global South” often refers to countries in Latin America, Africa, the Near and Middle East or Asia such as Brazil, South Africa, India or Indonesia. 164 countries belong to the WTO, which is based in Geneva. Germany was a founding member in 1995.
Source: Stern
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