{"id":31440,"date":"2025-12-03T12:20:32","date_gmt":"2025-12-03T11:20:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/fhse-en\/?post_type=events&p=31440"},"modified":"2025-12-03T12:20:33","modified_gmt":"2025-12-03T11:20:33","slug":"the-swiss-2026-osce-chairpersonship-challenges-priorities","status":"publish","type":"events","link":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/fhse-en\/events\/the-swiss-2026-osce-chairpersonship-challenges-priorities\/","title":{"rendered":"The Swiss 2026 OSCE Chairpersonship\u00a0Challenges & Priorities"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Keynote Address by Ambassador Benno Laggner<\/strong> followed by Q&A session & reception<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Introduction by Prof. Robert Harmsen<\/strong>, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This event focuses on Switzerland\u2019s 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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Switzerland\u2019s 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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Building on the lessons learned from its previous Chairpersonship in 2014, when the annexation of Crimea transformed Europe\u2019s 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\u2019s OSCE priorities within broader debates about the future of European security governance and the resilience of international cooperation in an age of geopolitical uncertainty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n