Annalena Baerbock, former co-leader of the environmentalist Green Party and now the first woman to serve as Germany’s top diplomat, marks three months in office on International Women’s Day (March 8). increase.
She emerged as one of Germany’s most popular politicians, and at a time of great upheaval across Europe and major shifts in German foreign policy, her clarity and stability were well received by conservatives. I’m getting accolades.
On Thursday, the monthly Deutschland Trend poll found Beerbock was Germany’s second-most-respected politician after Chancellor Olaf Scholz of the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD). About 50% of respondents said they were satisfied or very satisfied with her job. This is a significant increase in her points by 14 percent from the same time last month.
The growing popularity of Barebock is largely due to how she handled the Russian invasion of Ukraine. On her Twitter, German users hailed her as the foreign minister “made for the role” and “the best choice” for the job that was possible.
Analysts also point out that Beerbock was the only Chancellor candidate ahead of Germany’s 2021 federal elections to call the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia a mistake. Less than two weeks later, amid the Russian attack on Ukraine, Scholz indefinitely blocked the pipeline from running.
exceed expectations
across the board, German news outlets such as weekly magazines Der Spiegel When die zeit, , praises the Foreign Minister for “speaking openly” about the crisis and speaking directly to the Kremlin. When she went to Moscow a few days before the invasion, she seemed unperturbed by her surroundings.
In a speech at the United Nations last week, Barbock looked squarely at his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov and said, “You are abusing your power as a permanent member of the Security Council. Please do not Ka.”
Paul-Anton Kruger south german newspaper Every day, her speech was “not trying to hide behind diplomatic empty phrases. That’s a good thing, and it’s been long overdue.
According to Kruger, in Beerbock’s first few months in office, what she said in the fall — for reasons of both climate protection and security policy — is that “the current need is to switch to renewable energy as soon as possible. It was confirmed by the general public that it is obligatory. European countries are trying to wean themselves from Russian gas.
In an article published by the Bavarian public broadcaster last week, foreign policy correspondent Barbara Kostornik wrote about how the Bearbok exceeded expectations: She entered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Germany’s top diplomat.More or less openly, many foreign policy observers asked the question women often ask: “Can she do this?”.
Her campaign to become Chancellor of Germany has not only been marred by online trolling, but also minor scandals like plagiarizing parts of her 2021 book and delaying tax payments for Christmas bonuses. There was also. Bearbock admitted his mistakes and apologized repeatedly. Now Kostornik emphasizes that when faced with a crisis, “nothing remains from Annalena Beerbock, an unstable, nervous and worried woman.”
“She started off cautiously,” said Kostornik, but quickly emerged as a decisive and clear leader acting for Germany internationally.
A bearbok statement the day after Russia invaded Ukraine said, “Today we awoke in another world….We are stunned, but not helpless.” Words were received in Germany as touching the mood of the masses.
“This girl”
During Bearbok’s campaign for prime minister and in her early days in office, conservative pundits questioned whether a young mother was up for the job. Baerbock went on to aggressively argue that if it was possible to combine a career with a political career in Germany, it could be in Germany as well.
During her first few days in the office, users took to social media to ridicule her for every word she said. For example, when she spoke of “fressefreiheit” (which can be understood as a colloquial term for free speech) instead of “pressefreiheit” (freedom of the press), a video of her failure went viral on her Twitter. spread.
In February, it became clear that German correspondent Christoph von Marshall had not overcome everyone’s sexist attitude towards the German foreign minister. tages spiegel The Daily called the now 41-year-old diplomat “this young woman” on TV, asking if she was right for her role during a trip to Ukraine where she visited the army wearing an anti-aircraft jacket and military helmet. His comments were met with a barrage of sexist criticism and accusations.
According to Agnieszka Brugger, an expert on defense policy for the Green Party, Baerbock’s feminist leanings gave her a particular insight, especially regarding the current conflict.
Brugger told DW’s Rosalia Romaniec that one of Baerbock’s talents is “to the story of powerful states having specific zones of geopolitical influence, and to another story: human security and To refute on the subject of human rights,” he said.
Brugger highlighted two of Beerbock’s signature quotes. Security is “whether families and children in the middle of Europe can grow up safely and peacefully,” and after visiting the Donbass region of Ukraine, the foreign minister said, “Everyone is safe when women are safe.”
Annalena Baerbock visited the Donbass region on her trip to Ukraine in January.
Climate policy on the back burner
When Beerbock took office in December 2021, she announced the transfer of responsibility for international climate policy from the environment ministry to the foreign ministry and said she would be Germany’s chief negotiator at the UN climate conference. This makes foreign and climate policy a higher priority than before in the “traffic light” government. This was seen as an upgrade of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which had lost its position as prime minister’s office in recent years.
The issue has since been sidelined, except that she appointed Greenpeace International Chief Jennifer Morgan three weeks ago as the Foreign Ministry’s Special Representative for International Climate Policy.
Whether Baerbock’s current popularity will last in the long term remains to be seen. But she used her first three months in office to defy skeptics and maintain her place on the world stage.
Editing: Lina Goldenberg
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