The Importance of Annalena Baerbock

Germany’s first female Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock, is turning out to be an important player in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis.

• On 19 April 2021, the Greens Party announced Annalena Baerbock as its Chancellor candidate for the German national elections. She was leading the polls at 25% in May 2021.
• But belated reporting of an additional income source, allegations of plagiarism in her book and false additions in her resume, meant that her approval ratings took a beating.
• Baerbock was probably the only fierce opponent, among the Chancellor candidates, of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. She faced the ire of the Russian disinformation campaigns due to this.
• At the Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue summit, Baerbock even spoke about how Germany had a chance in 2014 to rethink its dependence on Russia for energy imports, and it did nothing.
• According to political experts, ever since the Russia-Ukraine war has begun, Annalena Baerbock has realigned her politics to present a principled and calculated stand against Russia.
• Annalena Baerbock has always been in the favor of a feminist foreign policy, much to the annoyance of many of her peers. It has been a leitmotif in all her international speeches.