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Together for feminist foreign policy – Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock travels to Mongolia
Foreign Ministers Annalena Baerbock and Batmunkh Battsetseg, Mongolia,, © Thomas Trutschel/photothek.de
A meeting of women foreign ministers is taking place in Asia for the first time – Foreign Minister Baerbock is travelling to Mongolia from 28 to 30 June in order to attend. As well as the meeting, her visit will focus on strengthening German-Mongolian relations.
Nestled between Russia and China lies Mongolia – a state that, despite its two much larger neighbours, is taking its own democratic and independent path and shares many values with Germany.
Owing to its exposed geopolitical location, Mongolia also looks for “third neighbours”, close partners including those far from its own borders with Russia and China. Germany is one such “third neighbour”, not least because the democracies of the world must stand together – across high mountains and steppes.
Annalena Baerbock:
Mongolia is situated in an incredibly challenging geographic location. A sparsely populated landlocked country with the population of Berlin, it shares more than 8000 km of borders with two much larger neighbours: Russia to the north and China to the south. All of Mongolia’s exports and imports have to pass through these two countries. Sandwiched between these giants, Mongolia is holding its own as a democracy and is making its influence felt far beyond its own neighbourhood.
On the first day of her visit, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock will join her Mongolian and French counterparts Battsetseg Batmunkh and Catherine Colonna to host the Women Foreign Ministers’ Meeting. On the agenda are issues such as the role of women in fostering peace and security.
Annalena Baerbock:
I would like to use the Women Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Ulan Bator above all to listen to our Asian and African partners and to find out more about their commitment to women’s rights and equality in a direct dialogue with them. For many years, Mongolia has been among the countries seconding the most women to United Nations peacekeeping operations, for example. I am interested in how we can learn from these experiences also for our involvement in UN missions. After all, women’s participation is a barometer of the state of our societies. In places where all people enjoy equal rights and opportunities, everyone benefits.
On the second day, Foreign Minister Baerbock will hold bilateral talks with the Mongolian Government and pay tribute to Mongolia’s involvement in United Nations peace missions.
She will visit a contingent where Bundeswehr soldiers are training Mongolian forces. From 2009 to 2021, Mongolian forces were a reliable partner at the side of the Bundeswehr in Afghanistan.