The diplomatic race to succeed UN Secretary-General António Guterres has triggered a sharp procedural clash at the United Nations, with the United States and Russia accusing General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock of overstepping her authority in the selection process.
US and Russian Objections to General Assembly Procedures
According to statements delivered in New York, Russian UN Ambassador Wassili Nebensja stated that Moscow is concerned “about the role that the President of the General Assembly is trying to ascribe to herself.” That critique echoed remarks made a day earlier by US Ambassador Jennifer Locetta, who accused Baerbock of hypocrisy and procedural overreach.
The friction centers on Baerbock’s efforts to shape the succession timeline ahead of Guterres’s departure at the end of his decade-long tenure. Baerbock, whose one-year term as General Assembly president runs until early September, has repeatedly advocated for a transparent, inclusive, structured, and timely selection process. Her initiatives included organizing public hearings where audiences voted on candidates, a step diplomats note is unprecedented, and writing letters to the Security Council urging them to exclude candidates who failed to participate in General Assembly dialogues.
Ambassador Locetta criticized those measures as irresponsible, arguing that the Security Council—whose permanent members include the US and Russia—maintains the prerogative to consider candidates “who never participated in a General Assembly dialogue.” Locetta added that Baerbock views herself as a “diplomatic superstar” and has indirectly painted the Security Council as non-compliant with proper standards.
Current Candidates in the Race to Succeed António Guterres
While the ultimate recommendation for the post rests with the UN Security Council through private ballots before formal appointment by the 193-member General Assembly, eight candidates have formally entered the running. Baerbock herself has dismissed rumors of her own candidacy, arguing publicly that the post should go to a woman for the first time in the 81-year history of the UN, while acknowledging that current regional rotation principles favor Latin America.
Following a first round of informal straw polls held in late June in New York, Rebeca Grynspan of Costa Rica emerged in the lead. Grynspan currently serves as the Secretary-General of UNCTAD in Geneva and previously held the office of Vice President of Costa Rica. Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, the former Foreign Minister of Guyana, placed second in the preliminary vote, while Rafael Grossi, an Argentine national heading the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), secured third place.
Other notable contenders among the four women and three men vying for the role include former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, former Senegalese President Macky Sall, former General Assembly President María Fernanda Espinosa of Ecuador, and Olara Otunnu, a former presidential candidate nominated late by Uganda.