Nato repairs “anomaly” in Geneva without violating neutrality
Published: Thursday, Oct 24th 2024, 13:00
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With the liaison office it opened in Geneva a month ago, Nato is rectifying "a kind of anomaly", says its head in an interview with Keystone-SDA. And he makes it clear that his post does not violate the neutrality of the host country, nor does it deal with relations with Switzerland.
"Geneva is a global center for diplomacy," says the Spaniard Joaquin Molina in an interview with the Keystone-SDA news agency, the first since he took office. "There is no other city in the world that has this unifying power."
The transatlantic defense alliance already relied on liaison offices in other multilateral centers such as New York and Vienna. "The fact that we were not here was something of an anomaly," Molina emphasizes. He also believes that the opening of this office could "make international Geneva even more complete".
An analysis that is shared by many of the people he has spoken to over the past month. However, cooperation with the international organizations in Geneva has existed at Allianz for some time, even before there was a liaison office.
"International security is becoming increasingly important in the geopolitical situation we are facing," explains Molina. "NATO is committed to an international order based on law," he says.
Committed to international humanitarian law
NATO also wants to show that it is not just a defensive military alliance. It is now positioning itself with a very broad approach to security, ranging from cyber security and migration to climate change and the fight against terrorism.
The transatlantic alliance sees a particular interest in engaging in dialog on issues such as humanitarian affairs or disarmament, says Molina, who is currently the only representative in this new liaison office in Geneva. "We are concerned about the current situation," he admits.
Next week at the meeting of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movements, NATO will participate with a concrete commitment supported by a Deputy Under-Secretary-General.
At the recent NATO summit in Washington, a lot of space was given to international humanitarian law. The fact that the Geneva Conventions and the alliance were created in the same year is no coincidence, says the Spaniard. "The world reacted to an approach that was there after the Second World War," he says.
International humanitarian law is part of NATO, which has also applied it in several conflicts. The decision to intervene in the Balkans in the 1990s was a response to violations of this law as well as human rights, says Molina. "Have all the problems been solved? Clearly not, but that is not Nato's fault. We were part of the solution."
No dialog with Moscow
"We also did what we had to do to help Ukraine, even if some people think we should have done more," the Spaniard continues. He could not comment on whether the country attacked by Russia would soon join the alliance or not.
In addition to its existing partners in Geneva, such as the three security centers financed by the Swiss Confederation and the United Nations, NATO wants to add more. It wants to pass on what it has to say. But without trying at all costs to counteract what actors such as Russia or China would like to promote in the multilateral system. "We have a broader official dialog with China, but we are not currently talking to Russia," said Molina.
The decision to open a liaison office in Geneva was confirmed by consensus by the heads of state and government of the member states in 2023. Switzerland was very helpful as a host state, even if the office itself does not deal with Switzerland, said the NATO representative.
©Keystone/SDA
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