The Swiss 2026 OSCE Chairpersonship Challenges & Priorities

Keynote Address by Ambassador Benno Laggner followed by Q&A session & reception

Introduction by Prof. Robert Harmsen, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences

This event focuses on Switzerland’s upcoming Chairpersonship of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in 2026, exploring how the country plans to navigate and shape the organisation’s priorities amid a rapidly changing geopolitical landscape. At its core, the discussion addresses the role of the OSCE as a key platform for dialogue, conflict prevention, and cooperative security in Europe and beyond. With the European security order under strain from the war in Ukraine, renewed great-power competition, and growing economic and technological rivalries, the OSCE faces unprecedented challenges to its relevance and effectiveness.

Switzerland’s approach to its 2026 Chairpersonship emphasises its traditional diplomatic strengths – neutrality, mediation, and consensus-building – as tools to foster dialogue among increasingly polarised member states. Yet this approach raises a fundamental question: is Switzerland’s emphasis on consensus-building a strength, or a potential limitation in an era defined by power politics? The discussion thus considers how small and neutral states like Switzerland can exercise leadership within multilateral organisations to promote stability, human rights, and cooperative security.

Building on the lessons learned from its previous Chairpersonship in 2014, when the annexation of Crimea transformed Europe’s security agenda, Switzerland aims to contribute to assessing multilateral diplomacy at a time when trust, communication, and institutional legitimacy are under severe pressure. The topic thus situates Switzerland’s OSCE priorities within broader debates about the future of European security governance and the resilience of international cooperation in an age of geopolitical uncertainty.

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