Swiss President Berset and OSCE Secretary General Greminger meet in Vienna, discuss areas of co-operation

VIENNA, 8 January 2018 – The President of Switzerland, Alain Berset, today met with OSCE Secretary General Thomas Greminger at the OSCE Secretariat in Vienna, where they discussed Switzerland’s continuing strong support for the Organization and possible areas of further co-operation.

The visit formed part of President Berset’s first official trip abroad since taking up the Presidency of the Swiss Confederation. OSCE Secretary General Greminger is a Swiss national himself, and chaired the OSCE Permanent Council during Switzerland’s 2014 Chairmanship of the Organization.

The Swiss President noted that the OSCE plays a crucial role in fostering peace and stability and added that “we need a strong and efficient OSCE that can fulfill its mandate in these difficult times of tensions in the European security architecture.” He stressed that Switzerland will continue to engage in the OSCE, both politically and through concrete actions on the ground, and will support Secretary General Greminger in further strengthening the OSCE’s abilities.

Greminger noted that Switzerland’s traditional role as a bridge-builder and mediator meant it is well placed to support the OSCE and its goals, particularly in rebuilding trust between participating States, and in conflict prevention and resolution.

“I hope Switzerland will continue to provide strong political support to the OSCE, whose work is well aligned with Swiss foreign policy priorities,” he said. “As well as seconding personnel to the OSCE Secretariat, Institutions and field operations, Switzerland is a generous supporter of many OSCE extra-budgetary initiatives that build trust among participating States in areas such as security sector governance and reform, economic and environmental security, mediation, gender mainstreaming and flagship projects such as the OSCE Academy in Bishkek.”

Recalling that Switzerland played a key role in the OSCE’s early responses to the crisis in and around Ukraine, Greminger thanked President Berset for Switzerland’s ongoing strong support for OSCE efforts to facilitate the political process toward a peaceful resolution and de-escalate tensions on the ground. He highlighted Swiss support for the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine through contributions of personnel and funding.

Greminger also expressed his gratitude to Ambassador Claude Wild, Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the OSCE, and his colleagues for their enthusiastic and effective engagement in the OSCE Permanent Council and their efforts to help the Organization build a positive, unifying agenda and become stronger in managerial, organizational and institutional terms.