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UN provides a seat for all countries, says UNGA Prez in swipe at Board of Peace
Baerbock is visiting India for discussions on reforming the UN system and addressing crises such as the war in Ukraine and the West Asia conflict
The United Nations alone can ensure global peace and security despite its shortcomings because it provides a seat at the table for both big and small countries, unlike the US-led Board of Peace, which can be joined only by paying a fee, UN General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock said on Tuesday.
Baerbock, who served as Germany’s foreign minister from 2021 to 2025, is visiting India for discussions with the country’s leadership on reforming the UN system and addressing crises such as the war in Ukraine and the West Asia conflict. She met external affairs minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday.
Member states of the UN are free to organise themselves in different groups, such as the G20 or other regional and international organisations but only the UN is responsible for international peace and security “because every country – no matter how big or small, how powerful or rich – has a seat at the table”, Baerbock told a news conference.
“Because you will not find a just peace for anybody in the world if you have to pay [a] fee to join it or if you negotiate how much power you have,” she said in reference to the Board of Peace, which was created by US President Donald Trump last year as part of efforts to end the war in Gaza.
While the role of the UN has been questioned in some quarters, the conflict in West Asia has highlighted the UN’s experience in ceasefire negotiations, Baerbock argued. “To find a just, fair and lasting peace, it needs a clear commitment to the equality and sovereignty of every country,” she said.
Baerbock backed all efforts to end the West Asia conflict, saying the closure of the Strait of Hormuz has affected all parts of the world by driving up prices of energy and fertilisers. “It overshadows the devastating situation for the people in Gaza. The humanitarian situation in Gaza is still heartbreaking. We are seeing 1.3 million people being displaced in Lebanon. We have seen attacks on peacekeepers in Lebanon,” she said.
Equality between countries is based on the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the UN is a unique place where all countries come together to find solutions to global problems, she said. No country, regardless of its size or strength, can address today’s complex global challenges – such as climate change, global pandemics, and the economic impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine or the closing of the Strait of Hormuz – on its own, she added.
At a time when complying with international law and delivering on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is not optional, the UN Charter is “our common life insurance”, Baerbock said. Besides calling for a cross-regional alliance to support multilateralism and the UN, she said India’s “continued leadership and partnership for multilateralism is central in these times”.
Baerbock also acknowledged the pressing need to reform the UN, especially to increase its efficiency and to avoid duplication. “While the UN is indispensable, it has to reform itself to be more efficient, more agile and avoid duplication, to better deliver on the ground and meet the challenges of the 21st century and beyond,” she said.
