Diplomacy in Times of Conflict: Switzerland Takes the Helm of the OSCE
At the start of a period of the deepest diplomatic freeze since the end of the Cold War, Switzerland officially took over the chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) at the beginning of the year. For Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis, the mission is clear: “where diplomacy seems impossible, it becomes most important.”
Switzerland is chairing the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) for the 2026 term. / Picture: © OSCE / ID: 661438, (CC BY-ND 4.0)
The assumption of the chairmanship comes under difficult circumstances. The OSCE, the only platform that brings all European states, as well as Russia, the US, and Canada to the table, has been struggling with internal blockages for years. Since all decisions must be made by consensus, tensions have recently led to the organization having to operate temporarily without a regular budget and with vacant leadership positions. Switzerland was already chosen at the end of 2024 in a so-called “silent election” after numerous participating states explicitly asked the neutral confederation to stand as a candidate in order to ensure the organization's ability to act.
Federal Councilor Ignazio Cassis takes office as Chairman-in-Office with a clear conviction. For him, diplomacy is essential precisely when it seems impossible. A central, albeit controversial, aspect of his strategy is the long-term reintegration of Russia into a European security architecture. Cassis has repeatedly emphasized that security in Europe cannot be achieved in the long term by excluding certain actors, but only by including them all. In doing so, he draws on Switzerland's political system, which is based on listening and balancing different interests in order to regain trust in an unstable world.
In terms of content, the Federal Council has defined a program for 2026 that goes far beyond acute crisis management. The focus is on the principles of the Helsinki Final Act, which are intended to serve as the foundation for a just peace in Ukraine. Switzerland would like to use its recognized expertise in mediation to make multilateral dialogue more inclusive. Another focus is on promoting democracy, the rule of law, and human rights, with particular emphasis on strengthening field missions and election observation in order to directly improve the living conditions of people in the OSCE regions.
Science and technology in the service of security
An innovative pillar of the Swiss Chairmanship is the combination of science and diplomacy. Switzerland recognizes that new technologies such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing are fundamentally changing global security. The aim is to anticipate these developments at an early stage and promote humane governance that combines technological progress with cooperative security. In this way, Switzerland wants to ensure that the OSCE remains a relevant instrument of peacekeeping in the digital age and that the organization's capacity to act is sustainably stabilized through secure funding.
The “Tour de Suisse” of diplomacy
The chairmanship year will be marked by a series of high-level international conferences in various Swiss cities. St. Gallen will kick things off in February with a conference on combating anti-Semitism and intolerance. This will be followed in May by an exchange on science diplomacy in Geneva, while Bern will trace the historical arc from the emergence of the OSCE to the present day in September. At the end of September, special attention will be focused on the city of Zug, where de-escalation and mediation in cyberspace will be debated. Finally, the political highlight will be the Ministerial Council meeting in Lugano in December, where the results of the year will be consolidated.
Expectations of Switzerland
The international community views Switzerland's presidency with a mixture of hope and sober realism. As the OSCE has often been considered politically paralyzed in recent years due to deep-seated blockages between member states, Switzerland is seen as playing the role of a “resuscitation doctor.” Experts emphasize that it would already be considered a great success if Switzerland simply managed to keep the organization alive and secure its basic working structures, such as the financing of field missions. Confidence in Swiss neutrality was a decisive factor in the Swiss Confederation being chosen as the consensus candidate for this difficult post in the first place.
The conflicting expectations of the major powers are particularly explosive. While Western states are calling on Switzerland to strengthen the OSCE as a platform for defending human rights and democratic values against authoritarian tendencies, Russia is insisting on strict adherence to formal procedural rules and neutral moderation without taking sides. Moscow has already signaled that it expects Switzerland to return to a form of diplomacy that prioritizes dialogue on core security interests rather than interfering in the internal affairs of member states.
Within Switzerland, civil society organizations are warning that the chairmanship should not become bogged down in mere routine. The Swiss Society for International Affairs (SSIA) is calling for a bold approach that goes beyond mere crisis management and actively involves civil society in peace processes. Switzerland is expected to use its mediation experience to build new bridges rather than simply managing the status quo of a blocked organization. Particular attention is being paid to protecting media freedom and involving non-state actors in order to bring the “human dimension” of security back into focus.
Despite the organization's high diplomatic prestige, experienced diplomats warn against exaggerated expectations. Former OSCE Secretary General Thomas Greminger points out that the OSCE has currently disappeared from the political radar of the most important players and that Switzerland's room for maneuver remains severely limited by the ongoing war in Ukraine. It is therefore expected that Switzerland will pursue a pragmatic “niche policy” – for example, in cyber security or science diplomacy – in order to make progress where the major geopolitical conflict leaves room for technocratic cooperation. According to observers, a complete revitalization of the organization in 2026 would be nothing short of a diplomatic miracle.