The foreign minister Analena Burbok today ruled out being the chancellor candidate again for the Greens at the next election, paving the way for vice-chancellor and economy minister Robert Habeck to contest the nomination this time.

“I want to focus with all my strength on the duties of secretary of state,” Ms. Burbock said in an interview with the American network CNN, referring to the current international crises. “The world is obviously different than it was at the last federal election. Because of the Russian military attack (in Ukraine) and now the dramatic situation in the Middle East, more diplomacy is needed, not less. Otherwise, others will fill the void,” she said, adding that in “extreme times” she considers it her “political responsibility” as foreign minister, “instead of committing to a chancellorship” to continue to devote all of her the energy in the work of building trust, cooperation and reliable structures – together with its partners Germany. However, she promised to do everything to support her party during the election period.

However, in mid-June, Analena Burbok, in an interview with Sueddeutsche Zeitung, had left open the possibility of re-claiming the anointing of the Greens. “As Secretary of State, I have learned that anything is possible,” he told the newspaper. In the 2021 elections, the two leaders, Analena Burbock and Robert Hambeck, had come to an agreement in favor of the former’s candidacy. Mr Hambeck, for his part, limited himself to saying today that decisions would be made by the party’s grassroots, as agreed at the 2022 conference, and praised Ms Burbock as foreign minister. “He is doing an excellent job and in recent years he has ensured that Germany has been and continues to be a factor of stability,” he said.

Both party presidents expressed their satisfaction with Mrs. Burbock’s statement, Ricardo Lang and Omid Nuripour: “This is how Analena is and this is how we value her: with responsibility for the whole and always a team player. Thanks to it, Germany is a reliable partner in the world. Right now Germany needs a dedicated foreign minister,” they stressed.