Annalena Baerbock


Annalena Charlotte Alma Baerbock is a German politician who currently serves as the chairwoman of Alliance 90/The Greens. Since 2013, she has also held a seat in the Bundestag, the German federal parliament.

Early life and career

Baerbock is originally from the western state of Lower Saxony.
From 2000 to 2004, Baerbock studied political science and public law at the University of Hamburg. In 2005, she graduated with a master's degree in Public International Law from the London School of Economics. In 2005, she completed a traineeship at the British Institute of International and Comparative Law.
From 2005 to 2008, Baerbock worked in the office of Elisabeth Schroedter in the European Parliament. Between 2008 and 2009, she worked as an adviser on foreign and security policies for the parliamentary group of the Green Party in the Bundestag.

Political career

Baerbock became a member of Alliance 90/The Greens in 2005. In October 2008, she was elected to the executive board of her party's state group in Brandenburg, rising up to chair of the board the following year, an office she held until 2013. From 2009 to 2012, she was also part of the executive board of the European Green Party.

Member of Parliament, 2013–present

In 2009, Baerbock unsuccessfully ran for a place on her party's electoral list for the federal elections. In 2013, she was the Green Party candidate in the constituency of Potsdam – Potsdam-Mittelmark II – Teltow-Fläming II as well as securing the leading spot on the party's electoral list for the state of Brandenburg. Through the electoral list, she became a member of the Bundestag.
During her first term, Baerbock was a member of the Committee on Economic Affairs and Energy as well as of the Committee on European Affairs. In her parliamentary group, she served as speaker for climate policy. In the latter capacity, she participated in the United Nations Climate Change Conferences in Warsaw, Lima, Paris and Marrakesh.
In addition to her committee assignments, Baerbock has been serving as deputy chairwoman of the Berlin-Taipei Parliamentary Circle of Friends.
For the 2017 elections, Baerbock was again the leading candidate in the state of Brandenburg, retaining her seat in parliament. Following the election she was part of her party's negotiating team, as the Green Party entered coalition talks with the CDU/CSU and FDP. She has since been a member of the Committee on Families, Seniors, Women and Youth.

Co-chairwoman of the Green Party, 2018–present

On 27 January 2018 at the Green Party's national convention in her hometown of Hanover, Baerbock was elected as one of two equal chairpersons of her party on the federal level, joined by Robert Habeck. She won 64 percent of the vote, more than her challenger Anja Piel. At a 2019 party convention, she was re-elected with 97.1 percent, the highest-ever result for a chairwoman of the party.
Baerbock's Freudian slip during an ARD interview about cobalt in batteries, which she pronounced "Kobold" was commented upon in newspapers and social media.

Other activities

Baerbock is married and has two daughters. The family lives in Potsdam.