The invention relates to an electrosurgical instrument, especially for argon plasma coagulation, with a handle (10), an outer shaft (12) that surrounds an electrode and/or an inner shaft (11, 111) and is held in the handle (10), and an actuation mechanism (13) on the handle (10) to move the outer shaft (12) in the axial direction relative to the electrode/to the inner shaft (11, 111). The invention is characterized in that the inner shaft and/or the electrode (11, 111) are mechanically connected with one another in a distal end area (65) of the outer shaft (12) in such a way that the inner shaft and/or the electrode (11, 111) can be bent by moving the outer shaft (12) relative to the inner shaft and/or to the electrode (11, 111).