Multilateral activities

Services and visa

All consular services and visa support for residents of the countries listed below are provided by the Regional Consular Centre Benelux The Hague. Information can be found on the websites concerned:

Netherlands
Belgium
Luxembourg

EU/EFTA country dossier

Comprehensive information on living and working in an EU/EFTA member state

Services

Contact the responsible Swiss representation or consulate when you want to register or unregister as a resident, when you need a new passport, have moved or wish to apply for citizenship. The entire selection of services offered can be found in the dropdown menu to the right. The contact details of the responsible Swiss representation are shown on the corresponding page.

Swiss citizens who get into difficulties abroad, also can ask for advice and help from the Swiss representative.

The magazine for the Swiss Abroad appears six times a year and provides information about what is happening at home and the activities of Swiss associations abroad. It also answers administrative questions.

Online desk FDFA

Using the FDFA’s online consular services while abroad.

The relevant Swiss representation abroad can answer any questions concerning the FDFA’s online desk.

The Multilateral Section of the Swiss Embassy in the Netherlands defends Switzerland's interests and positions in accordance with the country's foreign policy objectives and priorities. As a member of various international institutions in The Hague, Switzerland plays a major role in the development and implementation of policy decisions made within these organisations. The Multilateral Section helps formulate Switzerland's positions in international negotiations in close cooperation with the competent federal authorities, in particular the FDFA, the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS), the Federal Office of Justice (FOJ) and the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO). Its activities are mainly related to the international judicial bodies (courts and tribunals) and chemical disarmament.

Dossiers

Legal institutions

Switzerland is represented in various legal institutions, including the International Criminal Court (ICC), the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) and the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA).

Disarmament

Switzerland is one of the 192 states parties of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and actively participates in its work. It is currently a member of the OPCW's Executive Council (until May 2018).

Other institutions

Numerous other institutions are based in The Hague and are also part of the Multilateral Section's remit.

Contact

Swiss Embassy in the Netherlands

Lange Voorhout 42, 2514 EE The Hague

Sandra Caluori, Deputy Head of Mission, Multilateral Affairs

Tel.: +31 (70) 310 91 12 or +41 58 467 87 34

Irina Ibrahim, Attaché, Multilateral Affairs

Tel.: +31 (70) 310 91 86 or +41 58 481 46 02

Chantal Bauhofer, Attaché, Multilateral Affairs

Tel.: +31 (70) 310 91 83 or +41 58 483 53 38

Embassy email: thehague@eda.admin.ch

The Multilateral Section actively represents Switzerland in the following legal institutions:

International Criminal Court (ICC)
Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA)
Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH)

It also monitors ongoing cases before international judicial bodies such as the:

International Court of Justice (ICJ)
International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY)
Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL)
Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals (MICT)

Switzerland joined the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which promotes chemical disarmament and the complete elimination of chemical weapons worldwide, over 20 years ago and plays an active role in it.

The city of The Hague hosts many other organisations in which Switzerland plays a role, such as the: