Agency Report –
The German government on Wednesday defended its nomination of outgoing Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock for the presidency of the United Nations General Assembly.
Baerbock is “highly qualified” and recognized for her work, government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said in Berlin.
The Cabinet decision to nominate Baerbock was slammed by Christoph Heusgen, the former chairman of the Munich Security Conference.
Heusgen said that the post should have been awarded, as planned, to Helga Schmid, a career diplomat.
“It is outrageous to replace the best and most internationally experienced German diplomat with an obsolete model,” he told the Tagesspiegel newspaper.
A Foreign Office spokesman backed Baerbock’s candidacy, saying it emphasized Germany’s commitment to the United Nations and its willingness to take on responsibility at a difficult time for the multilateral body.
Baerbock, a Green party politician, is due to step down as foreign minister when a new governing coalition between the conservative CDU/CSU bloc and the Social Democrats is formed. She is set to be elected in June and begin her one-year term in September.
Hebestreit, the government spokesman, said her nomination was agreed with the incoming administration.
