Some call it the "center of the world": the United Nations skyscraper on the East River in New York. That's where the current Secretary of State, Annalene Burbock, is headed.
The Green politician has secured herself a prestigious international position – that's what it has to be said. Not in a subtle way, but with an extremely clear will to power – and this just before she lost power in Germany. Since then, waves of behind-the-scenes and loud gossip have spread through the otherwise discreet world of diplomacy.
Helga Schmid
Because the German government nominated experienced diplomat Helga Schmid (2024) for the position back in September 64. That would be a great end to her long career.
Schmid served as Secretary General of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) from 2020 to 2024, and is now Deputy Chair of the Steering Committee of the Munich Security Conference.
Burbok has repeatedly praised her, highlighting her key contribution to the OSCE being able to continue its work in recent years, despite Russia's blockades.
According to her associates, Helga Šmid has been intensively preparing for the role of President of the UN General Assembly in recent months.
However, when the red-green cabinet assigned her the position, Burbock tried to defend herself: "Like many of my predecessors, who were previously foreign ministers or prime ministers, I am now taking on this duty."
That sounds like Helga Šmid is not the candidate required for the position – which is certainly not an example of skillful communication.
Berbok also irritates his Greens
Berbock is even irritating her own party with her moves. Just a few weeks ago, at the beginning of March, in a personal letter to the Greens parliamentary group in the Bundestag, she explained why she did not want to take over as party leader: she pointed out that she had paid a price privately in recent years as a fifth-gear foreign minister – and that she now wanted to "take a step back from the spotlight."
Essentially, she signaled that she would step down – only to immediately begin a new political takeoff, in New York.
Some Bundestag members commented behind closed doors that in recent months, Berbock has often appeared in the parliamentary group more as foreign minister than as part of the Greens' party team. Perhaps both she and the parliamentary group have realized that, after such a high-ranking position, it is difficult to integrate into the opposition bloc in the Bundestag.
In addition, questions of collegiality are also being raised: Berbok will only officially leave her parliamentary mandate in the Bundestag in the summer, when she is confident in her new position.
She will be succeeded there by Andrea Libke, the Green Party leader in Brandenburg. She also, as she tells ARD, found out about this political reshuffle by phone a few days ago – at the same time as the public.
"I quit my job just a few hours earlier, because I was only elected as the Green Party leader in Brandenburg on Saturday," explains Libke, a physicist and consultant. Preparations are already underway to ensure that she "starts her work as a member of the Bundestag as painlessly as possible in the coming months." However, the fact remains that this maneuver has taken away valuable start time in the new Bundestag, whose first session is scheduled for early next week.
Men and women in positions of power
Regardless of all the criticism and questions of style, the debate about Analena Burbok also says a lot about the view of women in high political positions.
Doesn't it happen among men that a boss throws his subordinate out of the game? Are such moves less forgivable for women? And why is there a special emphasis in her case on how she will now organize childcare?
Berbok has repeatedly stressed how difficult it is for her family to deal with the fake news and hate campaigns they are exposed to online. Moving to New York is at least partly a way out of the German public.
After all, few people in a poll would be able to name any of the over 80 past presidents of the UN General Assembly.
Criticism and praise
Some of the harsh criticism of Berbok, almost predictably, comes from Russia. An intense campaign is being waged against her on social media, with claims that she is not up to the task.
One of the arguments is that she should not take over the presidency because her grandfather Valdemar was in the Wehrmacht. This was widely reported by the German media in February 2024.
In fact, there are concerns that Burbock could use the General Assembly as a platform to take a clear position on the war in Ukraine and advocate for a rules-based world order.
Among her fellow foreign ministers – whom she will now meet at the UN – Burbuck is considered experienced and approachable. After three and a half years in office, she is one of the longest-serving ministers in the circle, given that many other countries experience even more frequent changes in their governments.
Does she hope it will be a springboard for her international career?
Still, the new role doesn’t offer much political room for maneuver. If elected, Burbuck will hold a grand opening session in the UN’s domed hall in front of a global audience in September 2025. After that, her job will be largely ceremonial. She will be able to mediate and respond when, for example, protest delegations leave the hall, dictators exceed their speaking time – or, as legend has it, when an angry Soviet leader slams his shoe on the table.
Another thing that catches the eye: Burbock rightly notes that many countries have sent their former foreign ministers to New York in recent years. However, the post has usually marked the end of a career. Some have even come out of retirement to take on the honor. The current president of the General Assembly, Cameroonian Philemon Yang, is 77 years old.
What does Burbok actually want with this position, which is limited to one year? It seems as if she is beginning her exit from active politics. She remains faithful to her field – foreign policy – but at the same time distances herself from the heated party scene.
Perhaps he hopes for a future career in international organizations.
SPD politician seen as UNHCR chief
In all this hubbub, something has completely slipped under the radar – and it is, compared to Berbok, truly striking: another German politician is taking on a high-level international position.
SPD politician and former State Secretary Nils Ahnen is set to take over the top job at the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in 2026, where he will coordinate humanitarian aid and, among other things, appoint Hollywood actors as special ambassadors. The position is based in Geneva, and is usually for a long period of time.
Nils Annen has also faced criticism during his political career in Germany, for example for his stance on Iran. But his transition to head of the UNHCR has been almost seamless – his qualifications are not in question.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees is elected by the UN General Assembly. There, Nils Annen will likely meet Annalena Baerbok – and both will be able to look back on their respective paths to the top of international politics and ask themselves: are men and women really held to the same standards?
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