Better than the Chancellor: Union praises Baerbock – again
Created: 04/29/2022, 10:31 am
By: Anna-Katharina Ahnefeld
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock answers questions from the Bundestag.
© Michael Kappeler/dpa
Annalena Baerbock undergoes a change of image in the course of the Ukraine war.
Even the Union finds benevolent words.
Berlin – It wasn't long ago that the current Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock, was denied any competence.
As a candidate for the Greens, she took up the chancellorship last summer – with her, for the first time, a young woman and mother aspired to the top of the government.
During her election campaign, Baerbock was subjected to defamation, made mistakes herself and achieved a disappointing result with 14.8 percent of the second votes.
Baerbock is also a novelty as Federal Foreign Minister, she is the first woman in the history of the Federal Republic to hold the highest diplomatic office.
The Greens were still in the polls low in mid-December.
In the "Trendbarometer" of RTL and ntv, she came last in the survey regarding the competence of the traffic light ministers.
As foreign minister, many considered her unsuitable.
And now even the CSU praises the Greens – and not for the first time.
Green politician Annalena Baerbock: CSU Secretary General praises Foreign Minister
From poll low to leader: During the course of the Ukraine war, the poll values for Annalena Baerbock rose sharply.
According to a current Insa survey, every second German is satisfied with the work of the foreign minister.
This makes Baerbock the most popular minister in the traffic light cabinet.
The fact that public perception has changed is apparently not lost on CSU politicians either.
In an interview with
Die Welt
, CSU General Secretary Stephan Mayer sharply criticized Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and at the same time found words of praise for Baerbock.
While he judged Scholz to be "far too little visible and perceptible and visibly overwhelmed", he said of the Green politician: "Annalena Baerbock is more present overall, she has accepted her role more than the chancellor." The population also takes the discrepancy true between Scholz and Baerbock, according to Mayer.
Ukraine war: According to the Union, Baerbock represents Germany with dignity – recognition for UN speech
Such words seem particularly remarkable on the part of the Union, which had sharply criticized Baerbock in the past.
And yet these have not been isolated cases in the past few weeks.
“Madam Foreign Minister, you have just given the speech that we are expecting from our Federal Chancellor.
And that's no hidden praise,” CDU politician Roderich Kiesewetter addressed Annalena Baerbock in the Bundestag on March 26.
Baerbock also received benevolent words from the Union for her appearance in front of the UN General Assembly.
"Annalena Baerbock is doing her job well in these difficult times," said the foreign policy spokesman for the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag, Jürgen Hardt, of the
Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung
.
This is also remarkable because the warm words for Baerbock seem to oppose a supposed tendency in the Union that the SPD has criticized.
"There is a simple reason why there is disproportionate criticism of Home Secretary Nancy Faeser and Defense Secretary Christine Lambrecht: the Union has agreed to zero in on the women and to criticize them publicly - as often as possible," said party leader Saskia Esken in March .
Meanwhile, Chancellor Olaf Scholz is another man who has been criticized for hesitating about arms deliveries to Ukraine.
So it doesn't seem that simple.
(aka)
