Leading German diplomat Helga Schmid is set to become president of the UN General Assembly in New York from next year.
Germany’s federal government nominated the 63-year-old for the role at the headquarters of the United Nations on Wednesday, the Foreign Office in Berlin told dpa on Thursday.
As no rival candidates are expected and the groups of states eligible for the office in the relevant years consult with each other before the nomination, Schmid’s appointment is considered certain for a year from the beginning of September 2025.
Schmid, the current secretary general of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), is “one of the most experienced high-ranking German diplomats, with an excellent network and a high international reputation,” the Foreign Office said.
Schmid’s responsibility would be to represent all the UN member states. However, the role is often considered largely ceremonial when compared to the position of the UN secretary general.
Schmid gained recognition for her involvement in the historic negotiations of the 2015 international nuclear agreement with Iran. The agreement aimed to drastically restrict Tehran’s enrichment of uranium and allow strict International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) checks. However, the future of the agreement has been uncertain since the United States withdrew from it in 2018.
The German Foreign Office stated that Schmid would only be the fifth woman to chair the UN General Assembly in the organization’s 75-year history.
The actual vote to appoint the new assembly president is not scheduled to take place until June 2025.
Germany is applying for the post for the first time since the country’s reunification in 1990.
