On his left, Lana Nusseibeh, representative of the United Arab Emirates. On his right, Vassili Nebenzia, the man from Moscow, armed with his right of veto. Since 1er January, Pascale Baeriswyl, 54, Swiss Ambassador to the United Nations (UN) in New York, has the formidable honor of sitting at the famous horseshoe table, around which the representatives of the member countries meet (permanent and non-permanent) of the UN Security Council, holy of holies of multilateralism.
Expected and hoped for for years by Bern, the two-year participation in this inner circle of international affairs comes twenty years after Switzerland’s late accession to the UN in 2002. The time is certainly “historical” for Bern, as the diplomats of the Confederation repeat over and over these days; it is above all arduous. Never since 1945 has a high-intensity war on the European continent – like the one that has been ravaging Ukraine since February 24, 2022 – upset the major balances of the collective security architecture to such an extent, while, moreover, Beijing’s shadow over Taiwan continues to grow.
Faced with this world in convulsions, the words of the Swiss ambassador during the official induction ceremony for new members seemed almost candid: “We need the support of young people and women to ensure lasting peace (…). We will work in a spirit of shared responsibility, with deep humility. » Switzerland will hold the rotating presidency of the Security Council in May 2023 and October 2024. It intends to assert its strong and long tradition in terms of democracy and respect for the right of peoples to “building bridges” Between the countries.
Paradoxically, this leap into the global deep end takes place as Swiss diplomacy emerges from a rather harsh year 2022. First, relations between Bern and its close European neighbors have rarely been so lukewarm. In May 2021, the unilateral termination by Switzerland of negotiations with the European Commission to rebuild the partnership between Bern and the Twenty-Seven disconcerted its main partners. A gesture still largely misunderstood in Paris as in Berlin. “If at least we knew what the Swiss now have in mind, but for two years nothing has changed”confides a European diplomat stationed in Bern, who mentions “the vegetative state” current state of relations between the Confederation and the European Union, condemned to remain lethargic at least until the Swiss legislative elections in October.
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