Germany Baerbock to become President of the UN General Assembly
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock is to be given a top position at the United Nations in New York after she leaves the German government.
18.03.2025, 16:31
SDA
According to information obtained by the German Press Agency from government circles in Berlin, the government wants to nominate the Green politician as the German candidate for the presidency of the UN General Assembly in the 2025/26 session. A corresponding cabinet decision by circular resolution has therefore been initiated.
Baerbock is to be elected by the UN General Assembly at the beginning of June and take up her one-year office in September. Her election is considered a formality following internal agreements at the United Nations.
Upon taking office, Baerbock will resign from her seat in the Bundestag, it was also reported. The office of President of the United Nations General Assembly is not to be confused with that of UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
Baerbock intends to present her work program in New York in May
The President's task is to organize and chair the sessions of the UN General Assembly. Baerbock wants to present her work program in New York in May before the election scheduled for the beginning of June.
This had already been initiated by the German top diplomat Helga Schmid, who was originally intended as a candidate. Schmid was nominated as a candidate by Germany in September 2024. The position is now to be filled politically. Baerbock would replace the former Prime Minister of Cameroon, Philémon Yang.
According to government circles, the candidacy underlines Germany's strong commitment to the United Nations. Due to the frequent blockades in the Security Council, the UN General Assembly has become even more important in recent years. A strong political German occupation of the office is considered an important building block for the German candidacy for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council in 2027/28.
Last German appointment to the UN post during the Cold War
According to internal UN agreements, the office of President of the UN General Assembly will be held by the so-called "Western Europeans and Others" regional group in the coming session. In view of its strong commitment to the UN, Germany was granted the right to fill the post for the coming session by the group some time ago.
The majority of the previous presidents of the General Assembly were previously foreign ministers. The last German appointment to date dates back to the Cold War: UN Ambassador Rüdiger von Wechmar held the post for the then Federal Republic of Germany in 1980 and former UN Ambassador Peter Florin for the GDR in 1987.
Baerbock renounced her leadership role in the parliamentary group at the beginning of March
At the beginning of March, Baerbock announced that she would not be taking on a leading role in the future Green parliamentary group for personal reasons. She had previously been considered as the new co-leader of the parliamentary group.
"After years at high speed", she wanted to take a few days to reflect "on what this moment means for my family and me", Baerbock wrote at the time to the Green parliamentary group in the Bundestag and the Green state association in Brandenburg, of which she is a member.
The outgoing foreign minister had led her party into the 2021 Bundestag election campaign as its first candidate for chancellor. Baerbock and her husband Daniel Holefleisch announced their separation in November. Baerbock has two underage daughters.
