Failure to win seat on UN security council sparks German soul-searching | Germany
Germany’s unprecedented failure to win one of the rotating seats on the UN Security Council has sparked intense soul-searching in Berlin and raised questions about its claims to international leadership under Friedrich Merz.
Wednesday’s council vote, which elected Trinidad and Tobago and Zimbabwe to a two-year term alongside Austria and Portugal, is a blow to Merz’s embattled government as it seeks to position itself as Europe’s leading voice on the world stage.
In the fierce competition between EU partners, Portugal received 134 votes, Austria 131, while Germany received only 104 votes; Despite Berlin’s votes, it was well short of the 127 votes required. just a few hours ago he expressed his confidence He said he would win.
Both winners were seen as representing the interests of small countries, with Austria able to benefit from its perceived neutrality as a non-NATO member, while Portugal advertised its strong ties in Africa and Latin America.
But foreign minister Johann Wadephul, who lobbied heavily for the seat, attributed the “bitter defeat” to Germany’s active role in rallying support for Ukraine and its staunch support for Israel.
“We have always taken a clear stance on certain issues, and these are positions that are not shared by all member states,” Wadephul told reporters. He stated that “it is no secret” that Russia has increased its sensitivity towards Germany, which is now under the control of Kiev. largest national provider of military assistance.
“We have firm support for Ukraine; [permanent member] “Russia does not want such a voice in the Security Council,” he said.
Referring to Germany’s support for Israel as an important pillar of its foreign policy as atonement for the Holocaust, he said, “The fact that Germany must always assume a special responsibility for Israel in the Middle East conflict may also cost votes.”
Wadephul said Germany would stand by Israel even if it expressed criticism of its government’s actions in Gaza, West Bank settlements and Israel. Military attack in Lebanon.
Merz, whose popularity has plummeted in his first year in power, congratulated the winners of the secret ballot for five seats on the 15-member council and insisted Berlin’s commitment to the UN would remain unwavering.
Germany, the second largest contributor to the UN, remains “a reliable pillar of multilateralism”, “acting with determination and a sense of responsibility”.
Since taking office last May at the head of a loveless right-left coalition government, Merz has sought to make Berlin’s voice heard on global affairs, backed by a sharp increase in military spending, as it tries to restore Europe’s top economic power to its former strength.
The results at home and abroad have certainly been mixed, even leading to speculation in recent days that Merz might be out. replaced as chancellor Unless our conservative friend Hendrik Wüst, prime minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, can right the ship.
While such a scenario still seems unlikely, critics from across the political spectrum said Merz and his allies were themselves responsible for the latest debacle.
The opposition Greens called it a “shameful defeat”, and parliamentary group deputy leader Agnieszka Brugger called out a failure to “support this proposal with modern ideas” on leadership on climate protection, international rules-based order and development aid.
Alice Weidel, co-chair of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland party, which is leading in opinion polls in Germany and has been harshly critical of Berlin’s support for Kiev, said in a scathing post about X that it confirmed the narrative of national decline.
“One embarrassment follows another: While Merz had aimed at the beginning of his chancellorship to ‘return our country to the international stage’, Germany now finds itself without a seat on the UN security council,” he said.
The Social Democrats, junior partners in the ruling coalition, also joined the criticism, saying the vote was “not just a hiccup, but a warning sign”.
Foreign policy spokesman Adis Ahmetović said Berlin was paying the price for perceived hypocrisy with the restraint it showed in criticizing Israel and its allies, including the United States.
“Anyone who claims to be the guardian of the rules-based international order should not apply double standards when it comes to international law,” he told Spiegel magazine.
Merz initially refrained from passing judgment on Donald Trump’s military strikes on Venezuela and Iran and their compliance with international law, then drew the US president’s ire by saying Americans were “humiliated” by Tehran with their ill-prepared campaign.
Because of its militaristic past and fears of renewed dominance in Europe, Germany strengthened its power within international institutions for much of the postwar period, often through “checkbook diplomacy,” making the freeze at the UN particularly painful.
Germany has served on the council six times, most recently in 2019-20.
The high-profile campaign to win the seat will now make Merz’s comeback effort even more difficult, said Manuel Fröhlich, a political scientist at the University of Trier in West Germany.
“The government would certainly celebrate this as a success and in that sense it will undoubtedly have to take responsibility for this defeat,” he told public broadcaster Phoenix. “In that sense, it’s a significant setback.”
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