Defence alliance NATO could open a liaison office in Geneva this year, joining the United Nations (UN) and various international organisations in the city, following approval from both the Swiss government and NATO.
That is according to a memo from the General Staff of the Swiss Armed Forces, dated December 22, 2023, published by the weekly newspaper WOZ on Wednesday.
The memo read: “The office is to be located in the GCSP [Geneva Centre for Security Policy]/Maison de la Paix. The Federal Council approved the opening of a NATO liaison office at the request of the FDFA [Federal Department of Foreign Affairs] on November 22, 2023. On December 14, 2023, NATO officially informed Switzerland that the allies had given their final approval.”
The timetable has not yet been drawn up in detail; however, it can be assumed that it could open this year.
The liaison office will not deal with Swiss relations, but will work with the UN and international organisations, as NATO already does at the UN headquarters in New York or in Vienna, where it works with the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
Multiple sources have told the Swiss News Agency Keystone-SDA in recent months that discussions about the liaison office in Geneva have been ongoing for several years. However, one NATO member state is said to have delayed it for financial reasons. According to those same sources, only one NATO liaison officer will be based in Geneva.
Adapted from German by DeepL/kp
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