Annalena Baerbock facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Annalena Baerbock
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Baerbock in 2024
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| Minister for Foreign Affairs | |
| Assumed office 8 December 2021 |
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| Chancellor | Olaf Scholz |
| Preceded by | Heiko Maas |
| Leader of Alliance 90/The Greens | |
| In office 27 January 2018 – 29 January 2022 Serving with Robert Habeck
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| Deputy |
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| Preceded by | Simone Peter |
| Succeeded by | Ricarda Lang |
| Leader of Alliance 90/The Greens in Brandenburg |
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| In office 14 November 2009 – 16 November 2013 Serving with Benjamin Raschke
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| Preceded by | Ska Keller |
| Succeeded by | Petra Budke |
| Member of the Bundestag for Brandenburg |
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| Assumed office 22 October 2013 |
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| Preceded by | Cornelia Behm |
| Constituency | Alliance 90/The Greens List |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Annalena Charlotte Alma Baerbock
15 December 1980 Hanover, West Germany |
| Political party | The Greens (since 2005) |
| Spouse |
Daniel Holefleisch
(m. 2007; separated 2024) |
| Children | 2 |
| Alma mater |
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| Occupation |
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| Signature |  |
Annalena Charlotte Alma Baerbock (born 15 December 1980) is a German politician. She is a member of the Alliance 90/The Greens party. Since 2021, she has been Germany's Minister for Foreign Affairs.
From 2018 to January 2022, Baerbock was a co-leader of her party, alongside Robert Habeck. She was also the Green Party's candidate for Chancellor in the 2021 German federal election. However, Olaf Scholz from the SPD party became Chancellor instead. After the election, the Greens joined a government called the traffic light coalition with Olaf Scholz as Chancellor. On 8 December 2021, Annalena Baerbock became Germany's first female foreign minister.
She was born in Hanover, West Germany, in 1980. She studied at the University of Hamburg and the London School of Economics and Political Science. Baerbock was first elected to the Bundestag (the German parliament) in 2013.
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Early Life and Education
Annalena Baerbock grew up in Schulenburg, near Hanover, with her two sisters and two cousins. Her parents were a social worker and a mechanical engineer. When she was a child, she often joined her parents at protests against war and nuclear power, which were supported by the Green Party.
She went to the Humboldt School in Hanover. At 16, she spent a year studying abroad at Lake Highland Preparatory School in Florida, USA.
Sports and Studies
As a teenager, Baerbock was a skilled trampoline gymnast. She competed in German championships and won a bronze medal three times.
From 2000 to 2004, she studied political science at the University of Hamburg. During this time, she also worked as a journalist for a newspaper called Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung. She also did internships at different media and international organizations.
In 2005, Baerbock earned a master's degree in public international law from the London School of Economics (LSE) in the UK. She also started a research project on natural disasters, but she did not complete it.
Early Political Work
After her studies, Baerbock worked for a Member of the European Parliament, Elisabeth Schroedter, from 2005 to 2008. From 2008 to 2009, she advised the Green Party's group in the Bundestag on foreign and security policies.
Political Career
Starting in Politics
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Annalena Baerbock officially joined the Alliance 90/The Greens party in 2005. In October 2008, she was chosen to be on the executive board of her party's group in the state of Brandenburg. The next year, she became a co-chair of this board, a position she held until 2013.
From 2008 to 2013, Baerbock was the national spokesperson for the Green Party's group that focused on European affairs. She was also a member of the executive board of the European Green Party from 2009 to 2012.
Becoming a Member of Parliament
In 2013, Annalena Baerbock ran for a seat in the Bundestag, Germany's parliament. She became a member of the Bundestag through her party's list for the state of Brandenburg.
During her first term, she was part of the Committee on Economic Affairs and Energy and the Committee on European Affairs. She also served as the Green Party's spokesperson for climate policy. In this role, she attended several United Nations Climate Change Conferences.
In the 2017 German federal election, Baerbock was re-elected to the Bundestag. After this election, she was part of the Green Party's team that tried to form a government with other parties, but these talks were not successful.
Leading the Green Party
On 27 January 2018, Annalena Baerbock was elected as one of the two main leaders of the Green Party at the national level. She shared this role with Robert Habeck. She won 64% of the votes. In 2019, she was re-elected with an even higher percentage of votes, showing strong support from her party.
Running for Chancellor
On 19 April 2021, the Green Party officially chose Annalena Baerbock as their candidate for Chancellor of Germany in the 2021 German federal election. This was the first time the Green Party had nominated a single candidate for Chancellor. She was also the second woman, after Angela Merkel, to run for Germany's highest government office.
During her campaign, some questions arose about parts of her book and her resume. Despite these challenges, the Greens achieved their best result ever in the 2021 election, winning 14.8% of the national vote and 118 seats in the Bundestag.
Germany's Foreign Minister
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After the 2021 election, the Green Party formed a government with the Social Democrats and the Free Democratic Party. This government is known as the traffic light coalition. Annalena Baerbock was appointed Foreign Minister and started her new role on 8 December 2021. She is the first woman to ever hold this important position in Germany.
As Foreign Minister, she has traveled to many countries and discussed important global issues. For example, she visited Poland to talk about their relationship with the European Union. She also supported Poland's efforts to stop migrants from entering the EU from Belarus.
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Baerbock believes in strong cooperation with the United States. She has spoken about the difficult situation in Afghanistan, warning that the country is facing a major humanitarian crisis. She has also promised to help evacuate vulnerable Afghans.
In 2022, when Germany was leading the Group of Seven (G7) countries, Baerbock chaired meetings of the G7 Foreign Ministers.
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In January 2022, she decided not to send German weapons to Ukraine, even though other NATO allies were sending arms. Later, she visited Ethiopia to support a peace agreement there.
In May 2023, she visited Saudi Arabia and praised their efforts to find solutions to conflicts in Yemen and Sudan. In September 2023, she criticized Azerbaijan for military actions in Nagorno-Karabakh and called for peace talks.
Baerbock has shown strong support for Israel and its right to defend itself during the 2023 Israel–Hamas war. She has emphasized Germany's "historic and moral responsibility" to Israel because of the Holocaust. She has called for "humanitarian pauses" to help civilians in Gaza, but not a full ceasefire.
Political Views
Foreign Policy
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Annalena Baerbock believes in a strong common foreign policy for the European Union, especially when dealing with countries like Russia and China. She has suggested creating a European army that would be overseen by the European Parliament. She also supports the expansion of NATO and working closely with the United States.
Energy and Climate Policy
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Baerbock supports a "Green Deal" for Europe and across the Atlantic. She believes it's important for countries worldwide to work together to limit global temperature increases, as agreed in the Paris Agreement.
She has called for Germany to stop using coal by 2030. She also wants to set a speed limit on German roads and only allow new cars that produce no emissions to be registered by 2030. Baerbock believes that protecting the climate can also help the economy. She supports making steel production climate-neutral and taxing goods that create a lot of carbon emissions. She also wants to make domestic flights unnecessary by 2035 by improving the train network.
Baerbock is against the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project, which connects Russia and Europe. She also opposes nuclear power and does not want it to be labeled as a green energy source by the EU.
Immigration
During the European migrant crisis in 2015, Baerbock and other Green politicians asked for the European Commission to take more responsibility in managing refugees entering the EU. They also called for better facilities for asylum seekers.
In September 2023, Baerbock expressed concerns about the European Union's migration agreement with Tunisia. She supports Germany providing financial help to organizations that rescue migrants in the Mediterranean Sea.
Other Activities
Annalena Baerbock is involved with several important organizations. She is an ex-officio member (meaning she holds the position because of her main job) on the Board of Supervisory Directors for KfW, a German state-owned development bank. She is also on the Board of Trustees for the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and the Villa Vigoni – German-Italian Centre for the European Dialogue.
Since 2020, she has been part of the World Economic Forum's Young Global Leaders program. This program helps train political leaders from around the world.
Personal Life
Annalena Baerbock has been married to Daniel Holefleisch, a political consultant, since 2007. They have two daughters, born in 2011 and 2015. They live in Potsdam, Brandenburg.
Baerbock identifies as Lutheran-Protestant and is a member of the Evangelical Church in Germany. She has stated that the idea of community and togetherness is very important to her.
See also
In Spanish: Annalena Baerbock para niños
