Annalena Baerbock was born the same year as Germany’s Green Party, then a fringe mix of peace activists, environmentalists, equal rights campaigners and members of the anti-nuclear movement, skeptical of Western power. Forty years later — espousing a foreign policy generally in sync with the Biden administration — she hopes to lead the much-transformed Greens to an election win in September as Germany begins a new political era without Angela Merkel at the helm.

Laying out her vision in interviews, Baerbock has put a tougher stance toward Moscow and Beijing at the center of her foreign policy promises — a break from a more cautious approach under Merkel that has been a source of frustration in both Washington and Brussels.

That includes the end of political backing for Nord Stream 2, a nearly completed gas pipeline between Russia and Germany that has long been a wrench in U.S.-German relations.

Advocates say the private project is key to securing the region’s gas supplies, doubling the shipments of the original Nord Stream that opened a decade ago.

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Speaking to the Atlantic Council in her first English-language interview since being nominated as her party’s candidate for chancellor, Baerbock talked of being on the “same field” as the Biden administration when it comes to climate and human rights, and cautioned of a “new strategic fight” with Russia and China.

Such comments will be “music to the ears” of those in Washington who are thinking about how to bring Europe, and specifically Germany, into the fold of considering Russia and China to be strategic competitors, said Cathryn Clüver Ashbrook, executive director of the Project on Europe and the Transatlantic Relationship at the Harvard Kennedy School.

The election outcome is far from certain. Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union remains a powerful force, but her retirement leaves the party with a successor, Armin Laschet, whose poll numbers are weak.

That has put the Greens — for the moment — in the pole position for chancellor. No party is expected to win a majority, but the Greens’ strong showing makes them likely to be a key part of any coalition.