The war in Ukraine and its worldwide consequences are always in the German Chancellor’s luggage, even when she travels halfway around the world to Indonesia, Palau and Japan. Russia not only kills with bombs, but also through targeted exploitation of dependencies and starvation as a weapon, the minister said before departing. People in Mali and Niger felt it as much as they did in Lebanon, Argentina or India.
The consequences of the Russian aggression also determine the meeting of foreign ministers of the G-20 countries, in which Annalena Baerbock participates this Friday on the Indonesian island of Bali. “Food and energy security” is the title of one of the two working sessions in which the ministers of the 20 most important industrialized and emerging countries in the world meet – the other is entitled “Strengthening multilateralism”.
“We all have an interest in international law being observed and respected,” said Baerbock, making clear the effort to reach a common point of view against Russian aggression at the G-20 meeting – also with countries such as South Africa or India. , until now, their own nutritional or economic issues have been much closer than the issue of the perpetrators and victims of a European war. And the minister even formulated the statement that the G20 meeting, which is likely to be without an official final statement, will at least make it clear during its course that “we are not simply going to leave the meeting stage to Russia.”
Because the Russian leadership has announced that it wants to enter this phase; Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov confirmed his presence. After the start of the attack on Ukraine, host country Indonesia made no attempt to sanction Russia and exclude it from the G20 circle – such an attempt could not wait for the unanimous approval of the other 19 member countries, which, in addition to the Western industrialized G-7 countries also include the five largest emerging economies (BRICS) Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, as well as Egypt, Argentina, Australia, the European Union, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Turkey. .
What to do if Putin attends?
On the other hand, Western considerations of boycotting the G-20 round in the event of Russian participation were quickly pushed aside. Two weeks ago, the German chancellor was still vague during the G-7 summit under the German presidency: whether he will travel to the G-20 summit, which will also take place in Bali in November, will only be decided shortly before. . The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, had already launched the slogan that it was better to sit at the table with Putin and constantly read to him the act of revolt. Shortly thereafter, Scholz also adopted this attitude; Meanwhile, Putin said he would like to be part of the G20.
The G-20 foreign ministers’ conference will thus become a sort of dress rehearsal on how the Russian presence on the international stage should be treated in the future. The group of participants thus becomes a subject of consultation; how to react to allegations and accusations by Russian representatives in this round requires preliminary discussion and agreement among the other members of the body.
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In fact, the security issues to be discussed in the G-20 circle go far beyond the current war in Ukraine. The Indo-Pacific region of host country Indonesia is itself an area of growing self-confidence and tension. The international order faces “immense challenges” there, says Germany’s foreign minister.
The previous federal government had already officially directed its foreign policy attention to this regional world of states for the first time and formulated an “Indo-Pacific Strategy” which – without expressly addressing China’s role – should be understood as a declaration of intent on as the development of economic and security policy in the region should also be strengthened in relation to China.
The frigate Bayern toured the region in 2021 as the first German warship in decades to symbolically herald greater German attention. And threats to the stability of this area include not only China’s military threats, for example against Taiwan, but also the consequences of global climate change, which threatens the very existence of many small states.
In order to clarify her dramatic concerns about the future and demonstrate that she is serious about asserting her “foreign climate policy”, Foreign Minister Verde Baerbock flew to Palau on Saturday, an atoll in the Western Pacific between the Philippines and Indonesia. , doomed to sink when the sea level rises.