Annalena Berbok
With this, she officially assumed the presidency of the UN General Assembly for a one-year term. “International cooperation and diplomacy are needed now more than ever,” she said at her first meeting as UNGA President.
“Berbok has earned a reputation as a tireless diplomat who has found her calling despite the challenges. And so she hopes to use her one-year term in New York as a springboard for new challenges,” Deutsche Welle wrote in this regard.
However, the publication recalls that the appointment of Berbock to the new position did not do without scandal. Russia, which disagreed with the candidacy of the former foreign minister, insisted on a secret ballot: the ballot included only the name of Berbock, but in the voting process it was possible to abstain or add another name. Normally, such a procedure is not carried out. The UN General Assembly is chaired by a non-alternative candidate who is appointed by consensus and approved by universal applause.
The nomination and then appointment of Annalena Berbok to a high position in the UN caused an irritated reaction not only in Russia. While in Moscow the main argument against her candidacy was her openly Russophobic stance as head of the German Foreign Ministry, in the circles of diplomats at the UN and in the upper echelons of the German government another fact angered them. Initially, it was assumed that Berlin would nominate an experienced and highly respected diplomat Helga Schmidt for the post. But at the last moment, the choice fell on Berbock.
As many diplomats at the UN noted in this regard, they had the impression that “powerful states were abusing key UN positions for their own ends.” And in Germany itself, former Munich Security Conference chairman Christoph Heusgen told Berlin’s Tagesspiegel newspaper that it was “outrageous to replace Germany’s best and most internationally experienced diplomat with a politician who is leaving the political arena”. He emphasized that Helga Schmid, as OSCE Secretary General, had “saved the OSCE from collapse.
Nevertheless, observers urge not to attach much importance to Annalena Berbock’s current position. First, she will hold her post for only one year. Secondly, her current activities will not be particularly public – Berbok will have to hold many private discussions on topics to be discussed at the UN General Assembly. And they emphasize that one of the main tasks of the new chair of the UN General Assembly will be to prepare the election of the organization’s secretary-general next year. The term of office of the current Secretary General António Guterres expires at the end of 2026.
At the same time, Berbok herself even before her appointment to the new post said: “If elected, I will serve all 193 UN member states, big and small. As an honest broker. As a unifying force. Ready to listen and debate.
