Switzerland in the UN Security Council – A fuss in Switzerland, a storm in a teacup at the UN headquarters – News

Whether it’s arms re-exports or the CS crisis: What takes up a lot of space in this country degenerates into a sideshow in New York.

In theory, all 193 states are equal at the United Nations. In practice it looks different. Thanks to their veto power, the five permanent members of the UN’s most powerful body, the Security Council, are a caste unto themselves. Their ambassadors are the princes in the UN district on New York’s East River.

One of them is the governor of France, Nicolas de Rivière. His word carries weight here. «My team and I are extremely happy about the cooperation with Switzerland on the Security Council and with the Swiss Ambassador Pascale Baeriswyl. There isn’t a cloud in the sky,” says the 59-year-old top diplomat.

Swiss neutrality “sometimes useful”

De Rivière, who is anything but a whitewash, does not have the impression that Switzerland’s neutrality means that its ability to act is limited: “We respect neutrality. And sometimes it is useful that Switzerland can play a special role as a bridge builder, as a platform for negotiations or thanks to the humanitarian tradition and the ICRC.”

Legend:

Nicolas de Rivière represents France on the UN Security Council.

KEYSTONE/Alessandro della Valle

But what about criticism of Switzerland for its unwillingness to allow arms re-exports to Ukraine, with alleged reluctance to block oligarch funds? “There will be a dialogue about this. Sometimes we try to convince countries – and by no means only Switzerland – to move.”

Switzerland adopted the EU sanctions. That counts

But the decisive factor is that Switzerland consistently and clearly condemns the Russian attack. “And they took over the EU sanctions. That counts,” says de Rivière.

Switzerland is seen as a “reliable partner”

Nicolas de Rivière’s assessment of how Switzerland is perceived in New York is not an isolated opinion. You hear the same thing over and over again in conversations. Olof Skoog, formerly the Swedish and now the EU ambassador to the UN, speaks of an “excellent cooperation with Switzerland”.

“Of course,” says Richard Gowan, director of UN affairs at the International Crisis Group think tank, “UN diplomats read newspapers and hear criticism of Swiss decisions. But overall, Switzerland is considered a reliable partner for the attacked Ukraine.”

There is also something crucial: while almost all European countries are behind Kiev and have imposed sanctions on Russia, from a global perspective it is completely different. Most governments do not support the sanctions. And many do not consider the Russian war against Ukraine to be the most important global political problem.

The reputation remains untouched

So it all depends on the perspective. And that is different on the big UNO stage than in Switzerland and in all of Europe.

Legend:

The UN Security Council meets in New York under the leadership of Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis.

REUTERS/David ‘Dee’ Delgado

In this country, people get a shock when criticism comes from abroad. But what appears here as a shitstorm is more like a storm in a teacup in New York. This applies to arms exports, oligarch funds, but also the demise of Credit Suisse. Although this damages the reputation of the Swiss financial center, it hardly affects the reputation of political Switzerland.

Ambassador Nicolas de Rivière puts it this way: “We have followed the Credit Suisse crisis – but also how convincingly Switzerland has come up with a solution.” There is hardly anyone in New York these days who does not see Swiss membership in the Security Council and in the UN in general as an added value.