Organisation of the Swiss Abroad hit by surprise departure

OSA President Filippo Lombardi (left) and OSA Director Lukas Weber at the "SwissCommunity Days". Swissinfo/Samuel Jaberg

After just nine months in the job Lukas Weber will step down as director of the Organisation of the Swiss Abroad (OSA) at the end of the year. He will be succeeded by Daniel Hunziker.

It’s been an eventful year for the OSAExternal link, which represents the interests of Swiss citizens living abroad. For the first time, part of the Council of the Swiss Abroad (CSA) was filled by direct electronic elections. Then at the end of August the first “SwissCommunity Days” took place in Bern, marking the start of the new legislative period of the CSA.

Now there is another event: Lukas Weber, who took over the post of OSA director from Ariane Rustichelli in mid-April, is stepping down at the end of the year.

“We have jointly decided to go our separate ways at the end of the year,” said OSA President Filippo Lombardi. It was important, he said, for the organisation to have a new director on board quickly to succeed Rustichelli, particularly in view of the SwissCommunity Days in spring. “We found this person in Lukas Weber. He did his job well and the SwissCommunity Days were a success,” says Lombardi.

Read our coverage of the first SwissCommunity Days in Bern:

Weber’s resignation is surprising. No specific reason was given. “In times of upheaval, different people can make themselves available and look for a different direction after a certain period of time,” Lombardi said. “The Board has the task of looking at different personalities and interests and choosing the best solution for the organisation.”

Lombardi praised the collaboration with Weber over the past “challenging months”, particularly the support provided for the direct elections and the change of legislature at the SwissCommunity Days. “I also value Lukas Weber as a friend. We both had to undergo an operation this summer and supported each other during these surgical procedures.”

Weber himself was not available to comment on Wednesday.

Former honorary consul becomes new director

Daniel Hunziker, who will take over as OSA director on January 1, is no stranger to the organisation, as he was one of Weber’s competitors for the job.

The 59-year-old’s appointment impressed the Board, particularly because Hunziker himself spent 23 years as a Swiss Abroad: five years in the US and 18 in New Caledonia, where he worked as Switzerland’s honorary consul for 14 years.

“Hunziker knows the reality, difficulties and needs of the Swiss Abroad from his own experience,” Lombardi said.

Hunziker, who grew up in Aarau and, like Lukas Weber, lives in Fribourg, faces various challenges over the next few years. The most significant is likely to be the possible cuts to federal subsidies. “In addition, further digitalisation is on the agenda, particularly in terms of communication, and of course the early organisation of the next direct elections of the entire Council of the Swiss Abroad,” Lombardi said.

Other challenges over the next four years will probably be the governance of the OSA, as Weber already mentioned in an interview with Swissinfo, as well as the election of the 20 domestic members of the Council of the Swiss Abroad. The latter in particular triggered heated debates in the Council at the SwissCommunity Days.

‘Orderly handover’

The outgoing and new directors will “ensure an orderly handover” before the end of the year, the OSA wrote in a press release.

There is also another important item on the agenda for Weber and Lombardi this year: negotiations with the foreign ministry regarding the renewal of the four-year service agreement. The current one expires at the end of the year.

Edited by Samuel Jaberg. Translated from German by DeepL/ts