New Swiss ambassador to UN seeks to strengthen International Geneva

With 25 years of experience, Frank Grütter knows the UN well. Keystone / Alessandro Della Valle

Switzerland’s new ambassador to the United Nations wants to bring a touch of “Swissness” to New York. Frank Grütter intends to help prepare the UN for the future by drawing on typically Swiss qualities, such as a spirit of dialogue, pragmatism, tenacity, and a capacity for innovation.

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With 25 years of experience, the diplomat knows the UN well: he spent four years in New York early in his career in the early 2000s. Later, from 2018 to 2022, he headed the United Nations and the International Organisations Division in Bern, and subsequently led the Swiss government’s campaign to secure a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council.

“Even twenty years after my first posting in New York, I remain convinced that the UN is an indispensable universal platform for dialogue and the search for solutions, even if results sometimes take a long time to materialize and compromises are necessary,” he said in an interview with Keystone-ATS.

He is the sixth Swiss diplomat to hold the title of ambassador in his own right, rather than “permanent observer”.

Strengthening International Geneva

On May 8, he presented his credentials to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. During the meeting, the two men discussed Switzerland’s role within the UN system, particularly as the host country for international organisations in Geneva and Bern.

They also discussed the Swiss government’s role as a bridge-builder through its good offices, as well as a defender of international law, human rights, and sustainable development.

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In his interview with Keystone-ATS, Grütter noted that Switzerland gained a great deal of experience during its term on the Security Council, which now informs its work within the organisation.

“The UN reflects the state of the world,” he emphasises: it suffers from geopolitical tensions and is facing a liquidity crisis because some states do not pay their contributions or pay them late, he adds.

Seeing the positive side

But there are also positive developments: the vast majority of member states support the UN. Important international agreements have also been concluded recently, he says, citing the treaty on the high seas and the pandemic agreement secured last year from the World Health Organization (WHO).

Furthermore, precisely because of the liquidity crisis affecting the organisation, an unprecedented number of member states have paid their contributions on time this year. “It is important that, alongside all the problems, we also see the positive side,” says the Swiss diplomat.

Translated from French by AI/jdp

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