Wed, Oct 11th 2023
The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) is considering the possibility of setting up a liaison office in Switzerland.
According to the Swiss Department of Foreign Affairs (EDA), no official request has yet been made for the opening of such an office in Geneva. Once the official request from NATO is received, the matter will be referred to the Federal Council.
The idea of a NATO liaison office in Geneva was welcomed by the Security Policy Commission of the Council of States in March. The office would not be a bilateral office of the Alliance with the official Switzerland, but rather a liaison office to the international and non-governmental organisations based in Geneva.
NATO already has two such liaison offices in New York and Vienna, which promote relations with the international organisations there and monitor developments at the multilateral level. The Federal Council paved the way for the opening of such an office in its supplementary report to the security policy report of September 2022.
In conclusion, NATO is considering the possibility of setting up a liaison office in Switzerland, and the Federal Council has laid the groundwork for this. Once the official request is received, the matter will be referred to the Federal Council for further consideration.
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