German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul on Friday called for a reform of the United Nations in order for the global institution to be able to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

More than anything, this means the Global South, particularly Africa, must be given more weight, Wadephul said in a parliamentary debate to mark the UN’s 80th anniversary.

While conceding that the UN was sometimes incapable of action, Germany’s top diplomat said the 193-member organization remains “the only forum in which all the world’s states can talk to each other.”

Wadephul underscored the need for Germany to be ready to take a leading role within the UN.

Germany is running for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council for 2027/2028.

Lawmakers of almost all factions highlighted the importance of the institution, with Isabel Cademartori, a Social Democrat, describing the UN as “the indispensable heart of a globalized world in which no crisis stops at national borders.”

Beatrix von Storch, a member of the anti-immigrant, anti-EU Alternative for Germany, however, questioned the UN’s integrity.

The organization was dominated by authoritarian regimes, despots, corrupt states and developing countries, she said, which would be allowed to make decisions about democratic states such as Germany.

“Meanwhile, who pays for all this? Of course, the German taxpayer,” von Storch charged.

dpa