Profile: Berlin’s Man at the UN

Gunter Pleuger would prefer to be in the air, engaging in his favorite hobby as an amateur pilot. “The USA is a dream country for pilots,” he says.

Instead, the 61-year-old is in New York to do his dream job -- as Germany’s Ambassador to the United Nations. But he has a tough job ahead of him. On Jan. 1, Pleuger will also represent his country on the U.N. Security Council, when Germany begins two years of participation as a non-permanent member of the body.

A career diplomat

A northern German from the town of Wismar, Plueger, joined the German Ministry Office in 1970 after completing a degree in law. He started off his diplomatic career with a first stint working in New York in Germany's U.N. mission for four years. He moved on to posts in New Delhi, Washington, Bonn and Berlin. All through his career, the U.N. and Europe have been mainstays. From 1993 to 1998, Pleuger headed the Foreign Ministry Directorate for U.N. Affairs.

Pleuger is viewed by the German media as an expert on the United Nations and valued as a tough but effective negotiator who stands up for Germany’s interests without harming relations. He demonstrated his skills most notably in autumn 2000 as Germany’s chief negotiator at the European Union conference in Nice, France. There the 15 member states worked long and hard to hammer out the details of the Union’s future.

In recent days, Pleuger has been making the daily walk from his office at the German House in New York to the U.N. to prepare for his new position in the Security Council. The German government named Plueger as its diplomat to the U.N. in September, after the re-election of the German governing coalition of Social Democrats and Greens. Pleuger and German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer of the Greens are reported to have a very tight working relationship.

In good E.U. company

Along with permanent members Britain and France and, from Jan. 1, Spain, the new ambassador will find himself in good European Union company on the Security Council. “If the Europeans succeed in focusing their interests, they can achieve good results,” he recently predicted.

Pleuger may soon find relief in his E.U. colleagues support. In February, Germany -- whose election to the Security Council the U.S. opposed -- takes over the rotating chairmanship of the body. In late January, Hans Blix, head of the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Control Commission in Iraq, will report to the Security Council on whether Iraq has destroyed weapons of mass as set forth in U.N. Resolution 1441. The Security Council could then be forced to make a decision over whether to pursue military action against Iraq.

At that time, Pleuger will be at the helm -- responsible for running meetings, setting the agenda and representing Germany.