Excellencies
Ladies and gentlemen,

Welcome to Switzerland. Welcome to Geneva – our global hub for peace and security. It is an honour and a pleasure for me to open this forum and exchange ideas with so many security experts.

We are gathering here at a time of multiple crises, great human suffering, and mounting uncertainty. The citizens of our countries legitimately expect their governments to address these challenges and come up with answers.

It is in this spirit that Switzerland is presenting today a concrete initiative at the Human Rights Council here in Geneva. On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Human Rights Council, we are launching an international appeal to place human rights at the heart of conflict prevention.

In this Appeal of 13 June, we call for more and better cooperation between the Human Rights Council and the Security Council – between Geneva and New York. This appeal is premised on the conviction that human rights form an integral part of security. Human rights violations should therefore be more systematically taken into account as an indicator of potential instability and conflict. With this appeal, we invite the Security Council to make more use of the decisions and reports of the Human Rights Council and thereby to strengthen its engagement in conflict prevention.

More than 60 countries are already supporting our Appeal of 13 June. We encourage all other countries to join and help us develop positive momentum. It is time to move from words to deeds when it comes to conflict prevention. A strong axis between Geneva and New York will certainly be an important step forward.

I am mentioning this initiative upfront because I wish to underline one point from the outset: Switzerland is very much committed to helping develop concrete answers to the challenges we are facing.

This is also why the Swiss government has supported the International Security Forum for more than two decades. The ISF can help us better understand the issues before us, identify best practices, and point the way forward. It provides for inclusive discussions. And it promotes a comprehensive understanding of security that combines politico-military and human security issues. Both these features – inclusive dialogue and comprehensive security – very much reflect what Swiss foreign policy stands for.

The International Security Forum is one of Switzerland’s contributions to NATO’s Partnership for Peace programme. This year marks the 20th anniversary of our participation in the PfP. 1996 was a landmark year for Swiss foreign policy because it was also the first time we chaired the OSCE. Switzerland has been a strong promoter of cooperative security ever since, in both formats – the PfP and the OSCE.

The Swiss government’s commitment to cooperative security has been reflected in its continuous support for the three ‘Geneva Centres’ and the Centre for Security Studies in Zurich. These institutions have established themselves as internationally recognised centres of competence in their respective fields. I wish to thank them and everyone else involved for making the ISF what it is: a strong platform for security debate and innovation.

I am delighted that this year’s ISF is taking place in the Maison de la Paix. This building is a source of inspiration. Reflecting the spirit of la Genève Internationale, the Maison de la Paix brings together a broad range of actors who share experiences, discuss ideas and take common action – all under one roof.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Since the last ISF in 2013, the international security situation has deteriorated. The Ukraine crisis and the annexation of Crimea by Russia have led to an erosion of European security. Instabilities and disruptions in parts of the Middle East and Africa have increased. These instabilities have stronger and more direct repercussions on Europe than was the case a few years ago. Jihadist terrorist attacks are one example. The large numbers of refugees and migrants are another one.

Yesterday’s dreadful act of terror and hate in Orlando painfully illustrated again that the threat from terrorism remains high in countries around the world. This was yet another attack against our freedom and the values of humanity. On behalf of the Federal Council, I wish to extend my condolences to the victims' families and express my solidarity with those who suffered injuries. Switzerland grieves with the United States, our friend and partner. We must continue to address – and prevent – terrorism with steadfast resolve to protect our citizens and our way of life.

Looking at the big picture, we note that globalisation continues to be a megatrend. The spread of wealth and economic activity is reducing global inequality and providing new opportunities for growing numbers of people around the world. But globalisation has also created new disparities and spurred nationalist counter-reflexes. We have recently seen more of globalisation’s dark side, in the form of transnational terrorist groups like IS.

The ongoing diffusion of power has brought about a multipolar world. This multipolar world is struggling to agree on effective multilateral solutions to its common challenges. Geopolitics is on the rise. The regional status quo is being challenged not only in Europe but also in East Asia and in the Middle East. The democratic space is shrinking in a growing number of countries. Strongman rule and other illiberal forms of government are more widespread than they were a few years ago.

A major question is how political fragmentation will affect the global economy. Another question will be how the growing economic difficulties that some emerging powers are experiencing will impact their foreign policy and international security. And what about human security?
How can we ensure that the security and prosperity of the individual – of men, women and children – remains a priority in a new age of geopolitics?

But it is not just ‘strong states’ and geopolitical competition that figure high on the international security agenda. We have also been made acutely aware of the challenges emanating from ‘weak states’. Armed conflict and violent extremism are often related to fragility, which has become one of the key security and development issues of our time. The main reason why the war in Syria has turned into such a major tragedy is its toxic mix of fragility and geopolitics.

In sum, we are confronted with a multitude of crises. Armed violence and humanitarian needs are surging. International law and established norms are being challenged. The picture is complex, and we must be careful not to paint it too dark. The Iran nuclear deal is just one demonstration that crises can be resolved and that cooperation is possible and can lead to results. But the fact remains that today’s security agenda is even more challenging than it was a few years ago.

This is a call for action. Politics is about providing the best possible prospects for our citizens – and especially for young people and the generations that follow us. Politics is about making the world a safer and better place.

I hold the view that creative diplomacy and cooperation can make a difference, that the enormous transformations the world is facing can be managed, and that Switzerland can make useful contributions to this end.

In February of this year, the Swiss government issued a new foreign policy strategy. This strategy includes a commitment to further enhance Switzerland’s engagement for peace and security. The message of the Federal Council is clear: at this time of crises, the best way of ensuring Switzerland’s security is not retreat but to live up to our responsibilities and help address the challenges in our own specific ways.

Switzerland occupies a unique position in the world: we are a European country that defends European values, and the EU is our most important partner. But we are not a member of the EU or of NATO, and we do not have a colonial past. On this basis, Switzerland has established itself as a bridge-builder and a credible promoter of dialogue and peace.

The idea of bridge-building comes naturally to multi-ethnic Switzerland – it is part of our political DNA. I believe that that this Swiss role is becoming ever more important as the world becomes more fragmented. This is also because some values held dear by the Swiss, such as power-sharing and federalism, are major issues in conflict resolution today.

Switzerland therefore has not only a manifest interest in a stable environment; it can also make useful contributions to that end. We have developed innovative tools to promote peace, human rights and security over the past 20 years – the Geneva centres and the Maison de la Paix are among them.

And we have a broad network of Swiss representations abroad. Although Switzerland ranks only just in the top 100 in terms of population, we have the 16th biggest network of representations. This global presence is the basis of our independent foreign policy. And it is an asset as we advance the implementation of our peace and security priorities.

This is not the place to outline Switzerland’s engagement for peace and security in detail. There are copies of our new strategy available here, and I encourage you to read it. Let me instead focus on three major ways in which Swiss foreign policy responds to the changing security landscape:

• We are expanding our capacity for mediation and facilitation (our “good offices”);
• We are implementing measures to more effectively address the root causes of armed conflict, fragility, extremism and forced migration;
• And, despite the many pressing crises and conflicts, we are also continuing to invest much time and effort in addressing the global challenges and shaping globalisation.

To sum it up in a more philosophical way: at a time when everything is short-term oriented, when everybody expects short-term results, we strongly believe in long-term prevention.
Let me look at each of these three points in turn.

First, our good offices. This is a Swiss specialty – the core of our bridge-building, which we intend to strengthen further.
Switzerland has been involved in about 20 mediation-related processes in recent years. We were at the heart of OSCE efforts to deescalate the Ukraine crisis during our chairmanship two years ago, and we are still contributing major personnel resources to the Trilateral Contact Group and the Special Monitoring Mission.

Regarding Syria, Switzerland placed an expert on security arrangements at the disposal of Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura to help draft the ‘Cessation of Hostilities’. Two Swiss experts in political and constitutional reform have also been made available to the UN. In addition, we have supported a series of informal diplomatic initiatives designed to strengthen the formal dialogue process in Geneva.

Switzerland is also involved in many mediation contexts that receive less media coverage, including Burundi, Myanmar, and the Philippines. Our experience and competence in mediation – the Swiss sense for consensus solutions – have been in high demand lately. It is for this reason that we have decided to expand and further professionalise our mediation capacities. We need more women and men capable of leading a successful mediation. We need human skills, because these human skills are often decisive.

Mediation is a jigsaw with many pieces. The areas Switzerland covers mainly concern power and wealth sharing, human rights and social issues, security arrangements (including ceasefire and security-sector reform), and process design. In a growing number of cases, we have also found it essential to better understand the factor of religion in mediation processes and to share know-how on issues like dealing with the past. Therefore, expanding mediation capacities is a complex endeavour and a strategic long-term project.

Current developments in the Ukraine crisis and Syria underline just how difficult it is to advance on the road to peace. There are limits to what we can accomplish from outside, which is why we should be guided by a spirit of humility. But our efforts should also be driven by perseverance and steadfast resolve. Ending conflicts and building peace is a marathon, not a sprint! Diplomacy is the art of never giving up.

Beyond mediation, Switzerland is acting as a facilitator and provider of host nation services for talks. We have supported UN talks regarding Syria, Yemen and Libya, various rounds of the Iran nuclear talks as well as meetings such as the one between the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Bern last December. Again, the Federal Council is committed to providing the best possible services for such meetings and processes, and generally to further strengthening International Geneva.

The last element of Switzerland’s good offices that I would like to mention are its mandates as a protecting power. This involves taking on a state’s consular and diplomatic tasks when it has broken diplomatic relations with another state.

The heyday of Swiss efforts to safeguard foreign interests was during the Second World War, when Switzerland had over 200 protecting power mandates. In recent years this number decreased to 4.

The most far-reaching remaining mandate is our representation of US interests in Iran. This mandate includes a communication channel that enabled us to facilitate the recent exchange of persons between Teheran and Washington.

Many have predicted that protecting power mandates would soon be a thing of the past. They argue that in a globalised world breaking off diplomatic relations has become an unlikely option. But here we are in 2016, negotiating the modalities of new protecting power mandates at the request of Iran and Saudi Arabia. Demand for Switzerland’s good offices in the form of such mandates may well rise again in our more fragmented world. Switzerland, for its part, is ready to roll up its sleeves and take up new mandates should the need occur and should it be useful for the international community.

This brings me to Switzerland’s second response to the changing security landscape: in addition to enhancing crisis management capacities, we also consider it essential to become more effective in addressing the root causes of armed conflict, fragility, extremism and forced migration. The key to this is to break down the silos between different instruments and apply them in a more comprehensive and cohesive fashion. We need skills, and we need a good mixture of different skills.

This spring, the Swiss government defined for the first time a common strategic framework for its peace promotion, human rights, development, and humanitarian instruments. Each of these instruments plays a distinct role, but they all are geared towards common objectives. This whole-of-government approach is now also being applied in our regional strategies, for instance in the Middle East and in the Horn of Africa.

The underlying assumption is that peace and security, human rights and development are closely interlinked in today’s security landscape. There is no peace without development, and no development without peace. This nexus is reflected in the 2030 Agenda and its goal 16 regarding “peaceful and inclusive societies”. It is also a guiding principle of Switzerland’s new foreign policy strategy.

Development policy today can and must make significant contributions to peace and security. It can no longer be viewed as something ‘technical’ and divorced from ‘high politics’. The development and security communities must work more closely together. This requires a change of culture.

One example of what that means in practice is Switzerland’s expanding engagement in fragile contexts. Today, almost half of the poor people worldwide live in fragile states. According to OECD estimates, this figure could rise to two thirds of all poor people in the next 15 years.

Transforming fragile states into states that are peaceful, inclusive and stable is a complex task. It requires specific long-term measures for peace- and statebuilding. It also means that development actors are confronted with potentially more dangerous working environments – which must be taken into account as we formulate our policies.

A second example concerns the prevention of violent extremism. The Federal Council has identified the prevention of violent extremism as a foreign policy priority in Switzerland’s fight against terrorism. Two months ago, we published a foreign policy Action Plan on PVE that outlines how we aim to support the states and communities concerned in creating a social environment where people are not drawn to politically or ideologically motivated violence. This Action Plan reflects Switzerland’s commitment to depriving violent extremism of its breeding ground through a sustainable engagement in conflict-affected and fragile contexts.

This is about fighting terrorism by addressing its root causes with a broad range of civilian means. It is a security objective, but development policy plays a major role.

A key theme in our Action Plan is the need to create better perspectives for youth, so as to diminish the recruitment base for organisations like IS. According to the most recent Arab Youth Survey, young Arabs regard the lack of jobs and opportunities as the number-one reason why some people are attracted to IS.

Developing countries are home to 90% of the global youth population, two thirds of whom are underemployed. In the Arab world alone, 75 million young people are unemployed. These figures suggest that we must make education and jobs a cornerstone of efforts to prevent violent extremism.

This is a major development task – and one in which Switzerland with its dual education system has much expertise in. Subject to approval by Parliament, Switzerland will increase its funding for basic education and vocational training by 50%. We will also increasingly use these resources with the prevention of violent extremism in mind.

Let me add that it is not just within Swiss foreign policy that we seek to strengthen cooperation across instruments, but also at the international level. For example, we think that there should be more cooperation between the three pillars of the UN system – peace and security, human rights, and development. It is with this in mind that we launched the Appeal of 13 June for more cooperation between the Human Rights Council and the Security Council that I mentioned at the beginning.

This brings me to the third point: the need to shape globalisation and develop common solutions to our cross-border challenges. The focus here is on setting the right framework rather than on fixing crises and conflicts.

How can we secure a peaceful and stable global and regional order in the light of multipolarity? Although there is no easy answer, we must consistently address this issue, for the sake of our security and the security of the generations to come.

Let me briefly touch upon some fields of Swiss action here:

• We seek to contribute to effective and legitimate institutions. We do this for example by engaging in the debate on reforming the UN and by putting forward ideas on how to strengthen the OSCE’s capacity to act.

• We also seek to promote cooperative security to bolster dialogue, trust and regional order. In this context, we are working not only through the OSCE but also through our engagement in the Partnership for Peace. Such PfP activities include training and education, political dialogue, security sector reform and defence capacity building, as well as our substantial contribution to the KFOR peace support operation in Kosovo. Let me add that we also make the case for cooperative security outside Europe – not least in the Middle East, where the absence of regional dialogue is a major handicap.

• Furthermore, we want to strengthen compliance with international law. Switzerland attaches particular importance to improving respect for international humanitarian and human rights law. At the International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent here in Geneva in December 2015, all states agreed to work towards establishing a dedicated forum for international humanitarian law. Switzerland has committed itself, alongside the ICRC, to facilitating this process.

• Finally, we are working to ensure better governance in a series of global security issues. One such issue is non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament, where results have been disappointing lately. Another is cybersecurity – here the international community is only beginning to draw up common norms, and much remains to be done.

As many of you have no doubt yourselves experienced, reaching agreement on any aspect of global security is an uphill struggle in our multipolar world. My own experience is that bridge-builders these days are in high demand in this field of shaping globalisation too. So this is certainly a part of our new foreign policy strategy where you can expect more Swiss initiatives in the years to come.

Ladies and gentlemen

A major issue of the ISF has traditionally been the state of European security. Let me therefore conclude with some reflections on the Ukraine crisis and European security in the light of what I have said so far.

I believe that in this as in many other contexts, our engagement for peace and security will be most effective when all three fields of action that I have mentioned are applied: crisis management and mediation; a comprehensive approach to address root causes and people’s needs and aspirations; and the bigger context of regional order.

In the case of the Ukraine crisis, the balance sheet has so far been uneven.

Regarding crisis management, a process and structures have been put in place to deescalate and resolve the crisis (Minsk Arrangements, Trilateral Contact Group, Normandy format). Switzerland is providing mediation support and is also substantially supporting the Special Monitoring Mission and the OSCE Observation Mission on the ground.

Much is also being done with regard to the second field of action – the broader assistance for Ukraine and its transformation. Switzerland, for its part, issued a new cooperation strategy for Ukraine last year. This strategy provides a unified framework for all our instruments to help Ukraine with crucial institutional reforms and socio-economic development while also addressing the causes of the conflict. I might add that so far we are the only country that has delivered humanitarian aid to the population on both sides of the contact line. The fourth Swiss aid transport reached eastern Ukraine last month.

If I call the balance sheet uneven, it is because less has been done so far to address the broader questions of European security that are linked to the Ukraine crisis. It may prove difficult to resolve the Ukraine crisis without addressing the crisis of European security – and the other way round.

Together with Germany and Serbia, Switzerland mandated a Panel of Eminent Persons to make proposals on how European security can become a common project again. The Panel issued its report a few months ago. I encourage you to read this report. It raises major issues of European security.

For example, the report points to the need to develop a mutual understanding together with the countries concerned of how the common neighbourhood between NATO and Russia can be transformed into an area of stability and peace. The report also makes the case for reinvigorating conventional arms control. It identifies stepping stones towards addressing unresolved conflicts in the OSCE area more vigorously. And it outlines how economic connectivity in the OSCE area could be strengthened as a means to increase trust and stability. These are strategic issues that require thorough and inclusive discussion.

I consider the recent meeting of the NATO-Russia Council a positive step towards more dialogue and greater efforts to decrease tensions (we discussed this with NATO Deputy Secretary General Alexander Vershbow just now). We need to stand firm on the principles of the Helsinki Final Act and the Paris Charter that all OSCE participating States agreed to. But we should also have a genuine debate on how we have come to this point of crisis – and how we can reinforce cooperative security for all.

This much is certain: My country, Switzerland, will continue to promote inclusive dialogue and cooperative security. My country will continue (also with this Maison de la Paix) to work hard and concretely towards a world in peace.

“Switzerland’s engagement for peace and security: a marathon, not a sprint”