On Tuesday 10 February, the President of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), Annalena Baerbock, urged the European Union to defend the rules-based multilateral system, putting forward the idea of a “trans-regional alliance” between jurisdictions adhering to the principles of the United Nations Charter.
“The international order is not only under pressure, it is under attack”, declared Ms Baerbock during a speech in the hemicycle of the European Parliament in Strasbourg. She noted a “troubling” kind of crisis in which a conflict is “waged not even under the pretend of self-defence, or respect for international law but often carried out in open defiance of it”.
“When we most need cooperation, the UN, powers, even those who have the responsibility to protect peace and security are calling away from it, or even attacking it”, stressed the former German Foreign Minister, without directly mentioning the United States, but referring to Russia’s military aggression in Ukraine.
Ms Baerbock also made a plea for the defence of “the truth” at a time when, according to her, it is possible to see, through social networks, in national parliaments and even within the UN, “a deliberate attempt to weaponise misinformation as an instrument of power politics”. The EU could make a contribution by helping to define the international governance of artificial intelligence, she said, noting that women were the main victims of ‘deepfakes’.
To defend multilateralism and truth, the President of the UNGA put forward the idea of a trans-regional alliance. In her view, the trade agreements the EU has signed with Mercosur and India are “a real investment in global prosperity” and should be negotiated with the Middle East and Africa.
Finally, Ms Baerbock felt that “the UN (needed) the EU to reform” by reducing “duplication and bureaucracy”. But the world would not be a better place without the UN, she warned, as if to pre-empt those who are campaigning for the abolition of UN agencies, such as Israel with regard to UNRWA. She also called on the Member States and the EU to “set an example” by making their financial contributions to the UN system on time, in order to avoid “a financial collapse by July”, echoing a warning from UN Secretary-General, António Guterres.
See Ms Baerbock's speech: https://aeur.eu/f/ko7 (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)