{"id":291433,"date":"2026-02-10T09:02:24","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T14:02:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/pga\/80\/?p=291433"},"modified":"2026-02-10T10:30:47","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T15:30:47","slug":"pga-remarks-at-the-european-parliament-strasbourg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/pga\/80\/2026\/02\/10\/pga-remarks-at-the-european-parliament-strasbourg\/","title":{"rendered":"PGA Remarks at the European Parliament, Strasbourg"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Remarks by the President of the General Assembly\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

H.E. Ms. Annalena Baerbock<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

at the European Parliament, Strasbourg <\/strong><\/p>\n

10 February 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

[As Delivered]<\/strong><\/p>\n

Madam President Metsola,<\/strong><\/p>\n

Esteemed Members of the European Parliament,<\/strong><\/p>\n

Colleagues and friends,<\/strong><\/p>\n

I have just arrived from the Winter Olympic Games where our Italian friends underlined, in this beautiful Opening Ceremony in Milano, that peace is more than the absence of war.<\/p>\n

Where they are showcasing, right now and all the athletes, what we can achieve when we come together, despite our differences, to compete fiercely, yet fairly, on the same playing field, governed by the same rules, in mutual respect.<\/p>\n

So, bravo Italia!<\/p>\n

But while I wish we were gathered to celebrate that spirit of international solidarity, the reality is that the world outside of those stadiums looks very different.<\/p>\n

These are trying times.<\/p>\n

When President Metsola invited me in September at the High-Level Week of the UN General Assembly, the world felt already chaotic. I warned of a make-or-break moment for our multilateral system.<\/p>\n

Today, only 40 days into 2026:<\/p>\n

Venezuela.
\nIran.
\nGreenland.<\/p>\n

On top of Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan and so many more crises.<\/p>\n

The international order is not only under pressure, it is under attack.<\/p>\n

And we face a new and more troubling kind of crisis: conflicts waged not even under the pretense of self-defense or respect for international law but often carried out in open defiance of it.<\/p>\n

At precisely the moment when we most need cooperation, most need the United Nations, powers, even those who have a special responsibility to protect peace and security, are pulling away from it or even outright attacking it.<\/p>\n

This geopolitical shift towards a world where \u2018might makes right\u2019, contradicts more than a century of hard, bloody lessons, which people of this region remember all too well.<\/p>\n

Rules and standards drawn from these experiences, which were believed to be set in stone, are now openly questioned, dismissed, or violated.<\/p>\n

History teaches us that large systems rarely collapse in one dramatic moment.<\/p>\n

They erode slowly. Rule by rule. Commitment by commitment.<\/p>\n

With those who should defend them, rather staying silent.<\/p>\n

Until one day, what seemed permanent simply vanishes.<\/p>\n

Four years ago, in February as well, I went as a European, as Germany\u2019s Foreign Minister, to the UN General Assembly calling for the UN to stand up for Europe\u2019s peace.<\/p>\n

Today, I\u2019m coming as President of the General Assembly to Europe, calling for Europe to stand up for the United Nations because the world needs the UN. But right now, the UN and its principles as enshrined in the Charter, need the world, too.<\/p>\n

It needs Africa. It needs the Americas. It needs Asia and the Pacific. It needs Europe.<\/p>\n

It needs you to form a cross-regional alliance to protect, defend and champion the Charter and the international rules-based system that benefits us all individually and collectively.<\/p>\n

First and foremost, dear colleagues it needs us, and it needs you, the EU, to defend the truth, as we are living in a world where fake news, falsities, mis- and disinformation, is everywhere.<\/p>\n

We see it on social media, on TV. We hear it in parliaments, in speeches, we hear it in the General Assembly.<\/p>\n

And we learned the hard way that it is not only an oversight due to ignorance, but a deliberate attempt to weaponize mis- and disinformation as an instrument of power politics. \u00a0And we have also learned the hard way that the too often tepid response, of just ignoring what we know to be wrong in order to stay diplomatic, is not really a success strategy.<\/p>\n

As Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa put it: \u201cWithout facts, you can\u2019t have truth. Without truth, you can\u2019t have trust. Without these three, we have no shared reality, no rule of law, no democracy, and we can\u2019t begin to solve existential problems.\u201d<\/p>\n

But we also saw as recently with Greenland, that if one stands up for the truth \u2013 firmly, immediately and collectively \u2013 it pays off, and this responsibility lies with us.<\/p>\n

Defending the truth means we cannot negotiate the facts; we cannot \u2018go along to get along\u2019 in the hope that it will avoid a tariff.<\/p>\n

Defending the truth means countering hate speech and misinformation, including using the power of Europe\u2019s integrated market to support UN initiatives on digital and A.I. governance structures.<\/p>\n

And speaking here as a woman, defending the truth means realizing that if 95 per cent of online deepfakes are non-consensual pornographic images, and 99 per cent of which target women, that these deepfakes are no coincidence, but deeply systematic to attack women and this must be taken seriously as in any other field. Women\u2019s rights are human rights and an early warning system in open and free societies.<\/p>\n

Defending the truth is not a spectator sport. We are not bystanders who have the luxury of standing on the sidelines while injustice unfolds.<\/p>\n

Silence is a choice. Inaction is a choice.<\/p>\n

Of course, this is easier said than done, especially when you\u2019re faced with blackmail or coercion, or threats and intimidation.<\/p>\n

For sure no one can do it alone: not the EU, nor Canada; not Ukraine, nor the African Union; not India, nor Mexico.<\/p>\n

We must do it together and we have seen how powerful we can be when we indeed act together.<\/p>\n

Four years ago, Europe watched as 100,000 troops amassed on Ukraine\u2019s borders, shocked into paralysis. Nobody could have imagined the EU, which has been described as \u201ctoo slow and too bureaucratic, too divided\u201d would unite over a weekend. From the invasion on Thursday, to before the market opened on Monday, the EU collectively passed one of the largest sanctions packages ever recorded because it responded as one, with conviction and purpose.<\/p>\n

But we should not sugarcoat, nor forget, that we wouldn\u2019t have been able to do it alone. I remember very well the late-night calls, the pleas to countries around the world. The call in front of the UN General Assembly that this is not only about Ukraine, about Europe, but this is about the international peace order, about the Charter of the United Nations.<\/p>\n

The world heard Europe\u2019s calls, but frankly speaking I will also never forget some of the replies:<\/p>\n

Where have you been when we needed you?<\/em><\/p>\n

Will Europe be there when we make the call?<\/em><\/p>\n

Today, dear colleagues, the world is calling. It\u2019s not only about Greenland, it\u2019s also about Latin America, about Africa. Once again, it\u2019s about the international peace order, once again it\u2019s about the UN Charter.<\/p>\n

The UN needs Europe and I count on your answer to be a clear and resounding: yes, we will be there for our peace, for the international peace order, for the United Nations.<\/p>\n

Because, like the theme of the 80th<\/sup> session of the General Assembly, we are better together, we are stronger together.<\/p>\n

And in this spirit, Secretary-General Guterres and I called on all Member States at the beginning of this year to form that cross-regional alliance to protect, defend and champion the Charter and the international rules-based system.<\/p>\n

And it was great to hear from the President of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, that the EU is ready to step up in this regard; seeing the new trade agreements with Mercosur and others, not only as purely economic, but also as a strong strategic security tool in line with the Paris Climate Agreement, with the potential to create a market with 700 million people.<\/p>\n

The agreement with India on the other hand would encompass 2 billion people and 25% of the global GDP.<\/p>\n

Now imagine the economic, and thereby global, power if you combine it with others in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and enlarge it to Africa and the Middle East. So, I applaud the European Commission\u2019s announcement of additional funding to the African Continental Free Trade Area. \u00a0This is not an act of charity, it is a long-term investment in regional and global prosperity helping to open a market of 1.3 billion people and a combined GDP of $3.4 trillion USD.<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s a security investment, an investment in our global peace order. Adherence to the UN Charter and international law is not charity \u2014 it is insurance. It is an economic lifeline because it\u2019s very hard to single someone out, if they are all so strongly connected. This is up to Europe to be the driver of this cross-regional alliance.<\/p>\n

This brings me to my final point, the UN needs Europe not only to defend its Charter and its principles, but also to reform it, to make it better, to make it more effective and efficient.<\/p>\n

Clearly, the UN is not perfect; over 80-years there is duplication and too much bureaucracy, but no single day would the world be better off without the UN.<\/p>\n

Imperfection is an opportunity to strengthen and refine, not to cut down and demolish.<\/p>\n

We cannot allow those who would weaponize failings or setbacks to use existing inefficiencies or duplications as justification to unravel all that we have built, nor allow exclusive clubs to hold responsibilities for world peace.<\/p>\n

So while I commend the EU and the individual European Missions in New York for their engagement in our so-called UN80 reform process, I encourage you, as one of the strongest contributors to the UN, especially in regards to voluntary funding, to step up further now. As I also encourage other regional groups to come up with your own proposals, especially with regard to alignment of the work of the different agencies, and the strengthening of delivery on the ground.<\/p>\n

And also to not shy away from the overdue debates on the reform of the international financial architecture, not only important for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, but to deliver on promises to the Global South.<\/p>\n

I know, you don\u2019t make new friends asking for money and in German we even have a saying \u201eBei Geld h\u00f6rt die Freundschaft auf\u201c (when it comes to money, friendship doesn\u2019t matter anymore). Well, I know this makes Germans even less charming, but as we are living in tough times we need tough conversations.<\/p>\n

And the reality is: the UN is dealing with an existential liquidity crisis as some Member States have been paying their assessed contributions late, or not at all, for years.<\/p>\n

Plus, according to the financial rules, if the UN is unable to spend budgeted money, it is obliged to return the \u201cunspent\u201d money to the Member States, even though this money never reached the UN in the first place.<\/p>\n

So, if the EU wants to preserve and strengthen the UN, then the EU should lead by example:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • to pay its dues on time and in full<\/li>\n
  • to table proposals to overhaul this Kafka-esque financial rule of reimbursing funds never received<\/li>\n
  • and to waive your return of credits until the rules are changed, so as to prevent the financial collapse of the UN by July, as the Secretary-General has warned.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Yes, stepping up \u2013 being a first mover \u2013 isn\u2019t easy, and it will take courage, but the good thing about courage is, courage is infectious, if one stands up, others will follow.<\/p>\n

    The same holds true for the selection of the next Secretary-General of the United Nations. There is a clear call by all Member States to strongly support women\u2019s nominations. As one might wonder how in 80-years the UN has never selected a woman to serve its highest office, despite there being 4 billion potential candidates on Earth.<\/p>\n

    So, if you hear, as we are heading closer to the selection process, suddenly this old argument again, \u201c<\/strong>it\u2019s not about gender it\u2019s about competence\u201d please remind them that the EU functions quite well, that it didn\u2019t even hurt, to also have for the first time a woman at the helm, in fact it only makes you stronger.<\/p>\n

    And by the way, as I started with the Olympics, let me close there because even the International Olympic Committee has succeeded in having, after 130 years, its first woman as President.<\/p>\n

    I know that there are voices out there saying, well, we are not in sports; in politics in these times, you have to be the tough guy. What does it help to play to the rules if those with the strongest militaries start ignoring them? Calling it na\u00efve if you stand up for the truth, for women and human rights, for the international peace order.<\/p>\n

    To them, I say this: would you call Churchill or the other founding fathers of the UN na\u00efve?<\/p>\n

    They stood up for peace and security, sustainable development, and human rights from the beginning on, precisely because they had seen what na\u00efve appeasement, would lead to: war and total destruction.<\/p>\n

    The same for the founders of this institution; not so long after shooting at each other, they proposed the full integration of core industries and economies. How many called them na\u00efve because they had the courage to lead by stepping up for cooperation?<\/p>\n

    Today, we are not only standing in this building for which they laid the stones, we are standing on the legacy of courageous leaders.<\/p>\n

    The founders of the United Nations and the European Union had the courage to see the truth before them and to call it like it was, and then to act accordingly for the greater good.<\/p>\n

    Today, at another crossroads, it\u2019s up to us to do the same. \u00a0Do not mistake the truth for weakness. Do not confuse reform with failure, and do not sacrifice principles to appease.<\/p>\n

    As former Secretary-General Kofi Annan once said, \u201cThe human family will not enjoy development without peace, will not enjoy peace without development, and will not enjoy either without respect for human rights.\u201d<\/p>\n

    I thank you.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    More Information EU Parliament Here<\/a><\/p>\n

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