Foreign policy

The Conference of High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Conventions on the implementation of the Fourth Convention (protection of civilians in wartime) in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, will not take place. Profound differences between the high contracting parties to the Geneva Conventions emerged during an extensive consultation process. Switzerland, as the depositary state, therefore concluded that a significant number of the high contracting parties did not support such a conference, and has decided against holding one.

From the Ukraine Recovery Conference in July 2022 in Lugano to the Summit on Peace in Ukraine in June 2024 on the Bürgenstock: Switzerland is committed to a peaceful solution to the war and is fully behind the political process of Ukraine's recovery. It is also implementing a variety of measures to help support people affected by the war. More on Switzerland's work in Ukraine in the newsfeed.

On 20 February 2025, Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis will mark the fifth Romansh Language Week (Emna rumantscha) in Bucharest. The event, which is a joint initiative of the FDFA, the canton of Graubünden and Lia Rumantscha, aims to showcase Switzerland's plurality abroad. Mr Cassis, who heads the FDFA, will undertake this year's celebrations as part of his official visit to Romania, one of the themes of which is minorities. Various bilateral meetings and the signing of cooperation agreements are also on the agenda. We spoke to Switzerland's ambassador to Romania, Massimo Baggi.

Switzerland will take part in the World Expo in Belgrade in 2027, with 120 participating countries and over 2.6 million visitors expected. Under the motto "Play for Humanity: Sport and Music for All", the event will showcase ideas and solutions in response to the question: "How to prepare the human body, mind and logic for a technology-led world full of insecurities and make humans more resilient for the coming decades?"

On 15 and 16 June 2024, Switzerland organised a Summit on Peace in Ukraine at the Bürgenstock. The aim of the summit was to develop a common understanding of a possible path to a just and lasting peace in Ukraine. All news on the summit can be found here in the ticker.

From 14 to 25 October 2024, a group of specialists from the Ecole des Sciences Criminelles of the University of Lausanne will travel to Serbia and Kosovo to examine the use of new technologies in the search for missing persons from the period immediately before, during and after the Kosovo conflict. The specialists' visit is part of a mandate from the FDFA's Peace and Human Rights Division and is Switzerland's contribution to the implementation of the Declaration on Missing Persons, which was adopted by Serbia and Kosovo on 2 May 2023.