International and U.S. Based Organizations Call for Resignation of Annalena Baerbock from Role as President of UN General Assembly

New York, NY —On 9 September 2025, former German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock assumed her functions as President of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). 

The International Association of Democratic Lawyers, Progressive International and CODEPINK are hosting a press conference and rally outside the German Consulate in New York City on 11 September at 12:00 — to highlight imperialism’s continued efforts to erode international institutions, to bring attention to Baerbock’s crimes, and to demand her resignation from the post.  

With a record of promoting militarisation, blocking ceasefire efforts and undermining international diplomacy and justice, Baerbock’s values are fundamentally at odds with the mission of the United Nations. That is why we are now escalating the campaign against her presidency. 

Baerbock led the call to remilitarize Germany and pull Europe into armed interventions abroad.

Baerbock justified attacks on civilians under the guise of “self-defense”.

Baerbock blocked ceasefire efforts as Israel devastated Gaza and opposed peaceful solutions to the war in Ukraine.

Baerbock repeatedly undermined efforts to build dialogue with other countries, attacking their leaders as “dictators”.

Baerbock refused to enforce arrest warrants for Israeli officials implicated in crimes against humanity.

Baerbock attacked South Africa’s ICJ case against Israel, rejecting it as “baseless” despite the court’s findings.

We have prepared the attached briefing highlighting in detail her record of backing war, militarism, and acting against the environmental agenda. 

“By putting her forward above all other potential candidates, the West clearly aimed at undermining international law and international institutions. A warmonger and genocide enabler presiding over the UN General Assembly — an affront to humanity and the Rule of Law. Shame on them!” — Micòl Savia, General Secretary of the IADL

“In 1952, UN Secretary-General Trygve Lie was forced to resign over his blatant pro-Western bias and support for the brutal war against the people of Korea, which saw US forces carpet bomb the country until their pilots “ran out of targets”. In Annalena Baerbock, we find a clear successor. Her record as Germany’s Foreign Minister — one of warmongering and divisiveness — disqualifies her from leading the UN General Assembly.” — Paweł Wargan, Political Coordinator, Progressive International 

About the Organizers

The International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL), founded in 1946, is an NGO with consultative status at the UN dedicated to defending democratic rights and promoting international law.

Progressive International is a global network uniting progressive forces across borders to mobilize for justice, peace, and solidarity in the face of rising authoritarianism and war.

CODEPINK is a women-led grassroots organization working to end US wars and militarism, support peace and human rights initiatives.

Endorsers Include: Asociación Americana de Juristas (AAJ), Black Alliance for Peace, CUNY4Palestine, Democratic Socialists of America, Harlem/Palestine for Peace and Liberation, International Jewsih Anti-Zionist Network, National Lawyers Guild International, PAL-Awda New York – New Jersey, The Peoples Forum, Palestinian Youth Movement.

Attachment: Briefing on Annalena Baerbock’s Record

Background

On 9 September 2025, former German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock assumed her functions as the President of the United Nations General Assembly. Her appointment makes a mockery of the United Nations and the international system as a whole. 

As Foreign Minister, Baerbock blocked ceasefire efforts in Gaza, backed major arms shipments to Israel, and brought Europe closer to war — all while undoing Germany’s already-brittle environmental policies. 

This briefing examines Baerbock’s track record, provides context on the historical trajectory of the German Green Party, and shows why Baerbock is uniquely unqualified to represent the nations of the world at the UN. 

A Note on the German Greens

The German Green Party underwent a deep shift since its founding. The Party traces its origins to the student protest movement of the 1960s, the environmentalist movement of the 1970s, and the peace movement of the early 1980s. 

But by the late 1990s, the party’s stance shifted dramatically. After the 1998 elections, the Greens first joined the federal government. Within months, they abandoned their pacifist electoral pledges in backing NATO expansion and the first German foreign military intervention since the Second World War — the bombing of Yugoslavia, which Hitler’s Wehrmacht had devastated six decades earlier. This marked a profound and dangerous shift in Germany’s foreign policy. A significant part of the Green Party’s membership resigned in protest, a process that helped shape it into one of the most warlike parties in Europe. 

Founded as a pacifist party, the Greens would soon back the US war in Afghanistan, cementing their alignment with US-led militarism. Green leaders backed the NATO intervention in Libya. Today, the Green Party is among the most vocal proponents of Germany’s remilitarisation, an agenda that it advanced at the expense of clear electoral commitments on the climate and environment. 

Their decision to restart brown-coal extraction in Germany, for example, was a direct consequence of Germany’s foreign policy. As protests mounted, the German state responded with severe repression, including violent police attacks against peaceful protesters. 

Annalena Baerbock’s Violent Record

As Foreign Minister of Germany, Annalena Baerbock has a track record of backing war, militarism, and acting against the environmental agenda.

• At the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg on January 24, 2023, Baerbock generated significant controversy by saying: “We are fighting a war against Russia and not against each other… We can fight this war only together”. This was the first time that a sitting Foreign Minister of a European country had publicly stated that Europe was at war with Russia. 
• During a speech given in The New School in New York, Baerbock set out her vision for an increasingly militarised Europe that is integrated with the US: “Our aim is to further strengthen the European pillar of NATO, because we want to have a leadership in European and US partnership.” She spoke of a European Union that would be able to project military power through interventions abroad: “The EU needs to become a stronger security provider with more integrated defense industries, with military missions able to stabilize regions in its neighborhood.” 
• Baerbock repeatedly defended Israel and its strikes on civilian targets. “[S]elf-defence means, of course, not only attacking terrorists, but also destroying them,” she said in the German Bundestag in 2024. “This’s why I have made it so clear that when Hamas terrorists hide behind people, behind schools, then we end up in very difficult waters… [C]ivilian sites could lose their protected status if terrorists abuse this status. That’s what Germany stands for — and that’s what we mean when we refer to Israel’s security.” 
• From 7 October 2023 to 13 May 2025, Germany approved arms deliveries to Israel totaling €485.1 million ($554.3 million) — a record figure. She justified it with the Israeli regime’s arguments about the alleged use of human shields by Hamas. Hamas was “playing with human suffering, using women and children in Gaza as human shields, hiding its weapons under supermarkets, apartment blocks, even hospitals,” she said. TO Baerbock, German interests were inseparable from those of the Israeli regime. “Israel’s security is part of Germany’s raison d’état,” she said at a speech at the German Bundestag. 
• Even as her government was seeking to strengthen ties with the People’s Republic of China, one of its most important trading partners, Baerbock worked to sabotage the relationship. “If Putin were to win this war, what sign would that be for other dictators in the world, like Xi, like the Chinese president? Therefore, Ukraine has to win this war,” Baerbock said in an interview in 2023. This statement — among others made on China — sparked sharp criticisms from the Chinese side and saw a cooling of diplomatic relations at a time when German industry was already under significant pressure.

These statements and actions paint a picture of someone fundamentally committed to the military and economic machinery of the West — which has operated against the interests of nations across the Global South. For that reason, Annalena Baerbock is uniquely unfit for the role of President of the United Nations General Assembly.