"Baerbock messed it up" – Union demands questioning of the Green politician after UN defeat
Germany’s failure to secure a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council has sparked a political backlash, with conservative politicians demanding answers from former Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.
CSU foreign policy expert Stephan Mayer has called for Baerbock to appear before the Bundestag’s Foreign Affairs Committee. He said lawmakers must investigate the reasons behind the “embarrassing election defeat” and examine how Germany’s campaign for the Security Council seat was managed.
The criticism comes after Germany failed to win enough support for a seat on the Security Council for the 2027–2028 term. Germany received only 104 votes, well below the required two-thirds majority, while Portugal secured 134 votes and Austria received 131. The result was widely seen as a major setback for German diplomacy.
Several CDU and CSU politicians rejected suggestions that the current government was responsible for the defeat. Hesse’s Minister for International Affairs, Manfred Pentz, argued that the previous government and Baerbock’s tenure as foreign minister were largely to blame, claiming earlier successful German bids under former Chancellor Angela Merkel had been better prepared.
Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul described the outcome as a “bitter defeat” and pointed to Germany’s late entry into the race as a key factor. While Portugal and Austria launched their campaigns years earlier, Germany only announced its candidacy in 2019, leaving little time to build international support.
Former German UN ambassador Christoph Heusgen also questioned the government’s strategy, while Munich Security Conference chairman Wolfgang Ischinger suggested some countries may have been dissatisfied with the way Baerbock secured the presidency of the UN General Assembly in 2025. According to Ischinger, the move may have reduced goodwill toward Germany among UN member states.
Diplomatic observers also noted that Germany’s positions on major international issues, including the Gaza war and other global conflicts, may have influenced the voting. The defeat denies Berlin a platform it hoped to use to play a stronger role in addressing crises such as the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.
The UN Security Council is the United Nations’ most powerful body, with authority to impose sanctions, approve peacekeeping missions, and pass legally binding resolutions. Germany last held a non-permanent seat on the council in 2019 and 2020.