Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)

The Swiss chairpersonship of the OSCE in 2026 is part of Switzerland's ongoing commitment to making an active contribution to peace, security and stability in Europe and beyond. 

The OSCE chairpersonship for 2026 was entrusted to Switzerland by a unanimous decision of the participating states. It is in line with the Foreign Policy Strategy 2024–27, in particular its fourth objective relating to European security. Switzerland is the first country to have chaired the OSCE three times, following previous terms in 1996 and 2014.

The main tasks of the chairpersonship include the political leadership of the organisation, the promotion of cooperative security and efforts to resolve and manage conflicts.

A significant number of responsibilities fall directly to the incumbent chairman-in-office of the OSCE, a role that will be held in 2026 by Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis, head of the FDFA. 

The chairman-in-office also coordinates their actions closely with the previous and subsequent chairpersons-in-office. This ‘OSCE Troika’ arrangement ensures business continuity within the organisation.

News ticker on Switzerland's OSCE chairpersonship

OSCE website of the Swiss Mission in Vienna

For Switzerland, the OSCE is an important vehicle for it to promote peace and security in Europe, in its neighbouring regions and in the world as a whole, in accordance with its foreign policy priorities. It provides Switzerland with an opportunity to discuss security policy issues and confidence-building measures with all European and Central Asian states as well as the United States, Canada and Russia.

Since the early days of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe, the predecessor of the OSCE, Switzerland has been committed to building bridges in the tradition of its good offices and the promotion of dialogue. Switzerland also uses the OSCE as a platform to promote its liberal values. Specifically, Switzerland is active at three levels:

• At the political level, Switzerland is endeavouring to contribute to resolving deadlocks and finding compromises with ideas and its own negotiation efforts.
• At the diplomatic level, Switzerland advocates OSCE-relevant issues both in Vienna and in the capitals and gives them due prominence in bilateral consultations with the OSCE participating states.
• At the institutional level, Switzerland strengthens the OSCE's ability to act, for example through the targeted financing of projects and secondments to field missions and central institutions.
• At the mandate level, Switzerland repeatedly makes its expertise available to solve specific problems.

Switzerland's current commitment is based on the OSCE Action Plan 2022–25, in which it identifies measures that contribute to strengthening the OSCE as a platform for dialogue in the area of European security, and highlights those areas in which Switzerland can offer added value.