Shortly before the end of her term as President of the UN General Assembly, Annalena Baerbock (The Greens) finds herself at the center of an international power struggle. Of all people, the USA and Russia, which have opposing positions on many issues, are jointly attacking the former German Foreign Minister and accusing her of exceeding her authority.
But why are the USA and US President Donald Trump so angry? According to information from “Bild”, there is more than just a dispute over procedural issues behind the sharp criticism from Washington and Moscow. Accordingly, it is about the influence on the selection of the next UN chief - and thus one of the most important positions in international diplomacy.
The newspaper learned from UN circles that the USA in particular was angry about Baerbock's actions in the selection process. Baerbocks pushed for all candidates for the top post to be able to appear before the United Nations General Assembly before the Security Council enters the crucial selection phase. The United States, on the other hand, would apparently have preferred to negotiate behind closed doors as before.
Several candidates recently submitted their applications at short notice. A particularly curious case: On Monday, the Kingdom of Tonga surprisingly nominated a 75-year-old candidate from Ecuador, Ivonne A-Baki, a former ambassador to Washington who is considered a Trump confidant. Because she couldn't get to the Security Council hearing in time, Baerbock quickly scheduled her own hearing for Friday morning.
According to the newspaper, A-Baki is considered to be politically well connected in Washington and therefore maintains close relations with US President Donald Trump. There is therefore apparently speculation in diplomatic circles about possible political interests behind the conflict.
There are also reports about another possible candidate. The New York Post had already reported in July that Trump wanted to bring FIFA President Gianni Infantino into play as the new UN Secretary General. These speculations have been taken up again in the past few days. Some diplomats at the United Nations therefore suspected that the increasingly controversial process could ultimately pave the way for another applicant.
Criticism of Baerbock's actions escalated publicly on Thursday. The USA and Russia accused the President of the UN General Assembly of interfering in the powers of the Security Council. US Ambassador Jennifer Locetta spoke of an “excess of authority” and an “irresponsible” approach. Russian UN Ambassador Wassili Nebensja also expressed criticism of Baerbock's role in the proceedings.
The background is the search for a successor to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, whose term of office ends at the end of the year. Baerbock says it promotes a “transparent, inclusive, structured, timely and credible” selection process. To this end, it organized public candidate interviews and called on the Security Council to only consider candidates who had previously conducted a dialogue with the General Assembly.
