“You can rely on Germany,” promised the 40-year-old, who is younger than all of her predecessors, in her inaugural address. The EU continues to be “the linchpin” for Germany.
Her first trip abroad takes her to Paris.
Here she meets her French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian on Thursday morning. She then travels to Brussels to meet Josep Borell, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
On Friday, Baerbock will fly to Warsaw for a meeting with Poland’s Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau. A new style can be interpreted as the fact that the Greens also meet the Polish ombudsman Marcin Wiącek at the most important Eastern European EU member.
The ombudsman is the point of contact for Poles who are dissatisfied with the work of the authorities. Poland is fighting hard with the EU to ensure compliance with European values and civil rights as well as the controversial Polish judicial reform.
The Greens’ first foreign minister was Joschka Fischer. The now 73-year-old led the party into the red-green government in 1998 and headed the Foreign Office until 2005. During his tenure as foreign minister, the former rebel was recognized across party lines.
The Greens see the department as an opportunity to advance climate policy issues on a European or global level. In addition, the party is striving for a foreign policy that again represents more clearly European values towards countries such as China, Turkey and Russia. It is unclear how far Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) will occupy foreign policy issues.
Problem case Ukraine conflict
Russian troop movements on the border with Ukraine have raised concerns in the West. The situation is very fragile, said Sabine Fischer, Eastern Europe expert at the Science and Politics Foundation (SWP). Russia is playing a “risky game” with its threatening gestures. That is why “clear positions and clear language” are important when dealing with Moscow.
The Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is very skilled at making western diplomats appear and also presenting them. “With Baerbock he is facing a young, green politician – she combines attributes that arouse great skepticism in the Russian context,” said Fischer. “Baerbock should therefore definitely prepare for the Russian government to treat it with a mixture of condescension and ignorance.”
Stefan Meister, Russia expert at the German Society for Foreign Policy (DGAP), sees Baerbock before her first practical test. “Russia no longer sees Germany as a partner in the EU, but as an opponent that needs to be weakened.” The situation would be made more difficult by the fact that Germany would still be dependent on Russian gas for a long time to achieve a climate-neutral transformation of the economy.
The federal government must take on geopolitical responsibility
Baerbock must therefore now “earn respect in Moscow” and make it clear that the federal government is ready to take on geopolitical responsibility. “Germany must take on a leading role again in foreign policy issues in the EU – for example in the South Caucasus, in Ukraine policy and towards Belarus,” said Meister.
Marieluise Beck, who was a member of the Bundestag for the Greens for many years and who later founded the Center for Liberal Modernism, sees difficult conditions for Baerbock. “Moscow looks to a government in Germany that is only just finding its way around – and an unstable EU,” she says. “The Kremlin is trying to take advantage of this.” They are concerned not only with the threat policy towards Ukraine, but also with the situation in the Western Balkans, where Russia is exerting its influence.
“The region is strategically important with a view to the European unification process,” said Beck. “An important task of the new foreign minister will be to push back the destabilizing influence of Russia and thus to support EU accession.”
Relations with China as a challenge
With a view to China, there are signs of a more conflictual relationship than in previous years. Baerbock said on Monday that one had to cooperate with China “as one of the largest players in the world”, “on international global issues such as climate protection, fighting pandemics, but also global cooperation in the world”.
But one is also “a competitor, if we look at the central economic policy issues of our time, and system rivals in other areas”. A strong common European policy on China is therefore necessary.
An interview by Baerbock with the “taz” caused a stir, in which, among other things, she brought up a European import ban for products from the Chinese region of Xinjiang. The Chinese leadership is accused of massive human rights violations against the Muslim Uyghur minority in Xinjiang. Baerbock also did not rule out a boycott of the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing.
Baerbock wants to pursue international climate policy
Baerbock had already called for a “passionate foreign climate policy” during the Bundestag election campaign. It is now becoming apparent that the new Environment Minister Steffi Lemke – like Baerbock a Greens – will have to hand over responsibility for international climate policy to the Foreign Office.
Baerbock sees the climate crisis as the greatest global crisis. This aggravates the conflict in many regions around the world. It is not enough to see that every country meets its climate goals, “we finally have to join forces”.
Environmental and development experts consider this step overdue. “The federal government’s foreign climate policy has so far lacked ambition, strategy, coherence and resources,” said Lutz Weischer, Berlin office manager of the environmental and development organization Germanwatch, the Handelsblatt. If the new government is to be a climate government, it needs a fresh start in foreign climate policy and a policy that is based on the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement.
At the center of an effective climate foreign policy, so Weischer, should be partnerships with emerging and developing countries that support and accelerate the establishment of an energy supply with renewable energies, which is necessary for the climate goals.
In addition, the federal government must campaign for an orientation compatible with the Paris resolutions in all international institutions and with the development banks and also align its own foreign trade promotion to the 1.5 degree limit and exclude it for all fossil fuels. According to Weischer, it could make sense to have a climate foreign policy officer in order to better coordinate the issue between the departments.
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