Overview

• Annalena Baerbock, the sole candidate for the 2025/26 UNGA presidency, delivered her program to UN delegates in New York, emphasizing institutional reform and inclusivity.
• Her priorities include advancing UN Sustainable Development Goals, addressing the climate crisis, promoting gender equality, and fostering civil-society dialogue.
• Baerbock pledged to act as a unifying mediator for all 193 member states and to lead the 2026 UN Secretary-General selection process transparently and inclusively.
• Russia’s UN envoy Dmitri Poljanski criticized her nomination, accusing her of bias and referencing disputed claims about her family history, which Baerbock firmly refuted.
• The election is set for June 2, 2025, with Baerbock’s one-year term beginning in September, pending confirmation in what is expected to be a procedural vote.