Germany's green Foreign Minister must now face his first challenges - Russia and China

 

 Russia and China will be the first tests for the future German Foreign Minister Analena Burbock, writes the German newspaper Handelsblatt. It will have to react to the power games of Moscow and Beijing and at the same time carefully compare European values ​​with economic and political interests.

Things are not easy for Burbock now, the publication emphasizes. When the appointed foreign minister is due to take office at Germany's foreign ministry this week, she will face two of the biggest challenges in world politics: Russia and China are now trying to build their geopolitical power by aggressive means. the article.

 "We stand up for Germany's global responsibility," the preamble to the coalition agreement said. Now Burbock has to prove that these are not just figurative words. This is not an easy task for any German foreign minister. Many will now begin to pay attention to the fact that the 40-year-old Burbock, without experience in the government apparatus, occupies one of the most difficult positions in the new cabinet.

  This should not be a disadvantage, notes Handelsblatt. Joschka Fischer also joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1998 "only" with experience as Minister of the Environment in Hesse - and yet became one of the best foreign ministers of the post-war period. However, Burbock cannot count on a political postponement: the current problems are too acute for that.

 According to the article, Russia has deployed 175,000 troops on the border with Ukraine, ready, as the US military fears, to invade the neighboring country in the spring of 2022. At the same time, Beijing is stepping up its threatening gestures to Taiwan, so the minister Lloyd Austin has already spoken of a "dress rehearsal" for military intervention. 

 Burbock has repeatedly stated in interviews that she wants to take a firmer stance on "authoritarian regimes in Moscow and Beijing." However, it is easier said than done, the publication emphasizes. Even a "value-oriented" foreign policy cannot avoid weighing economic and political interests. There could be a good profit if the new foreign minister, together with his European counterparts and partners, finally manages to develop a common strategy towards the great powers, concludes Handelsblatt.