Baerbock elected President of the UN General Assembly

Former German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock will be the next President of the UN General Assembly. In the election in New York, the 44-year-old Green politician received 167 votes in the United Nations’ largest committee.

Shortly before, it became complicated again: Baerbock had to face a secret vote at the request of a member state. This was confirmed by a UN spokeswoman for the German Press Agency in New York. The piquant: from diplomatic circles it was said that the country was Russia.

Baerbock competed in the election from 4:00 p.m. CET without opposing candidates for the one-year top position of the largest UN committee with 193 member countries. The choice in the plenum before 193 UN member countries was therefore considered a matter of form-actually: Usually the general assembly seals personal details without opposing candidates by acclamation, i.e. in consensus and without formal choice.

Now there has been a coordination with the ballot papers on which only Baerbock’s name stood. Your name could be checked, but it was also possible to abstention or add another name. Baerbock’s choice, in which a simple majority is needed, was still considered safe – and worked in the end.

In the past few weeks, Russia had made no secret of the fact that Baerbock considers it to be an unsuitable candidate and assumed her “blatant bias”. Baerbock, as Foreign Minister to Russia, had driven a tough course in the course of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and thus kept targeting Moscow.

Originally, the German top diplomat Helga Schmid, which was also accepted by Russia, was intended for the office of President of the UN General Assembly. Baerbock was criticized for her late candidacy after the lost federal election.

The top position is primarily given to protocol importance-it should not be confused with the role of UN General Secretary António Guterres. The official inauguration would be on September 9 shortly before the UN General Assembly with state guests from all over the world.

As President, Baerbock will lead the meetings of the general assembly and set processes and agenda items. With these tasks, the 44-year-old can at least have a limited influence on decision-making processes behind the scenes, for example that of the election of the next general secretary in the coming year. Baerbock’s direct line to outside ministers worldwide-i.e. the bosses of the UN ambassadors in New York.

In contrast, the 15-member UN Security Council with the five Vetomaks is considered to be much more powerful compared to the general assembly. It can issue resolutions binding under international law. The political decisions of the general assembly, on the other hand, often have a more symbolic value and are considered a worldwide mood.