Annalena Baerbock shone in 2022 with self-confident rhetoric and good sympathy values. But now she stumbles from one problem to the next – from an alleged make-up scandal to an unwanted declaration of war. Suddenly there was a discussion about the fact that German foreign policy was revealing glaring weaknesses. The Chancellor is annoyed about it.
The smallest problem of Annalena Baerbock is estimated at 136,552.50 euros. That’s how much the Foreign Minister officially spent last year on powder, make-up and styling at state expense, a make-up record for a federal government. Baerbock even employs a stylist who receives a monthly fee of 7,500 euros. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs explains the sum for the make-up artist with the minister’s many picture and television appointments, the many time-consuming trips and the working hours on weekends “and at special times of the day”. The publication of the numbers caused quite a stir in the republic’s colorful gazettes. The “Bild” newspaper initially saw a “woman with class and sophistication” whose “professional staging would also look good on male politicians”, only to headline a little later that tax money was literally “squandered” here. In any case, the gossip topic was set for the hairdressers from Garmisch to Flensburg – and it damages the high reputation of the Foreign Minister, especially since the Federal Foreign Office also reported 178,764.66 euros for photographers in 2022 to officially stage the well-made Baerbock perfectly.
Baerbock encountered the bigger problem in the Council of Europe when, a few hours after the German tank supply decision, she asserted with verve in front of the cameras: “We are fighting a war against Russia.” The sentence caused a diplomatic scandal, because Germany is by no means at war with Russia and has been meticulously careful for months not to become a party to the war. Baerbock’s thoughtless declaration of war has downright shocked many observers in Europe. Since then, Chancellor Scholz has been busy calming things down and clarifying Germany’s position – even in distant Latin America. The Russian state media took up Baerbock’s statement for their war propaganda with relish – as proof that Germany and the other EU countries are direct conflict parties in Ukraine.
Baerbock’s environment tries to downplay the scandal as verbal inattention. But the political opposition and many media are harshly critical. CSU General Secretary Martin Huber said: “Annalena Baerbock is a massive security risk for our country.” The AfD even calls for Baerbock’s dismissal. Dietmar Bartsch, parliamentary group leader of the left, described the minister’s statement as “incomprehensible”. But Baerbock should easily put up with the attacks of the opposition. The cold, stinging criticism she is now receiving from the Chancellery is more unpleasant.
The scandal reveals that the Foreign Minister and the Chancellor have been at odds for a long time. Scholz and Baerbock’s opinions differ widely, from the weapons deliveries to Ukraine to the entry of the Chinese at the port of Hamburg to the new security strategy. “I don’t think there has ever been a German federal government so divided on foreign policy as this one,” observes CDU foreign policy expert Norbert Röttgen.
In fact, the Chancellor’s Office is very upset that Baerbock regularly publicizes himself at Scholz’s expense, sometimes reads him the riot act like before the Leopard decision or before his trip to China, when Baerbock publicly reprimanded the Chancellor, please stick to the coalition agreement there to keep. The SPD are now coming back against Baerbock. If she defames Scholz in Berlin background circles as a fickle procrastinator, then she is now exposed as a vain self-promoter and dazzler. The coincidence of the make-up deed and the declaration of war is therefore rumored with relish among social democrats.
The climate of opinion surrounding the hitherto popular minister suddenly darkened, with some already remembering her missteps in the federal election campaign. If she was still Germany’s most popular politician in 2022, she is now falling in the popularity ranking, Robert Habeck and even Markus Söder have already overtaken her.
Suddenly columnists, diplomats and security advisers are claiming that German foreign policy is in bad shape under Baerbock. Germany’s relations with its four most important neighbors have eroded to their worst state in decades. Experienced foreign officials worry that the atmosphere is miserable with France, Poland, Italy and Great Britain. The foreign policy wobble on the Ukraine question has severely weakened Germany’s reputation in NATO and among its allies. Relations with China are openly strained under Baerbock, important emerging countries such as South Africa are alienating themselves and siding with Russia.
A frequent criticism is that Baerbock has so far delivered catchy rhetoric and beautiful images for the German audience, but has not made any progress in foreign policy on the matter. Even the announced “feminist foreign policy” has so far lacked any tangible successes, the support of the Iranian resistance movement seems helpless.
In the ministry itself, Baerbock, who was initially received with great sympathy, has drawn criticism for her clumsy symbolism. The fact that she had the historic cross removed from the conference venue in Münster for the G7 summit and that she renamed the Bismarck Hall in the Federal Foreign Office is seen by experienced diplomats as embarrassing self-assurance and forgetfulness of history. Baerbock could learn from Bismarck and his deliberative grand diplomacy in particular that foreign policy means above all “the art of the possible” and not the art of staging.
In the long run, Baerbock will not survive the course of conflict with his own chancellor unscathed, top Greens are now worried. The topic now dominates the Berlin debate. When asked about shortcomings in the chancellor’s relationship with the foreign minister, government spokeswoman Christiane Hoffmann said on Monday: “The chancellor works closely and trustingly with all his ministers.” When asked how it looks emotionally, she replies: “Shall I talk about love now?” And then she immediately gives the answer herself: “No.”