Middle East envoy weighs up chances for peace
Middle East envoy Nicolas Lang, who was involved in recent efforts to revive Israeli-Syrian peace talks, has taken up a new post as Swiss ambassador to Ghana and Togo.
In an interview with swissinfo, the senior diplomat looks back at his two years as a mediator in one of the cauldrons of global politics and assesses the prospects for peace in the region.
Lang was first posted to the Middle East in 1999 and has since played a leading role in extending and strengthening Swiss diplomatic ties and networks in the region. During this period he succeeded in bringing together Syrian and Israeli negotiators.
swissinfo: Your involvement in brokering unofficial talks between Syria and Israel has been widely reported. How serious, in your view, are both sides about making peace?
Nicolas Lang: I am confident that both sides are aiming for peace. Although the mutual distrust sits deep, Syria needs peace with Israel. It is an important prerequisite for the opening-up of this country and for its economic development, and also to counter extremist tendencies, which unfortunately are gaining ground there as well.
The settlement of this part of the Israeli-Arab dispute would greatly benefit both countries and the international community: it would contribute to the stabilisation of Lebanon, simplify the solution of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, provide Syria with unrestricted access to the international community and would deepen Israel’s strategic depth in the East.
Finally, and this is a central point, after many years of setbacks, it would be a welcome positive message to the people of the region and give them some hope for the future.
swissinfo: Both the Israeli and US governments dismissed the significance of these secret meetings when news of them broke in January. What support, tacit or otherwise, did you have from the administrations of both countries?
N.L.: The efforts were primarily of unofficial nature and the participants were mainly private persons.
swissinfo: All this activity would suggest that parties in the region see Switzerland as an honest broker. Would this be a fair assessment?
N.L.: Undoubtedly. Switzerland has an excellent reputation in the region and is valued as an independent partner for dialogue. As an alliance-free country, it can and does take independent positions. Added to this are the different characteristics that Switzerland stands for: the absence of a political agenda in the region, its neutrality, the role as the depository of the Geneva Conventions and its humanitarian tradition.
swissinfo: Three years ago you played a key role in promoting the Geneva Initiative, a Swiss-backed unofficial peace plan for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, later dubbed a failure in some quarters. What did it achieve?
N.L: The Geneva Initiative was clearly a success. It was the first comprehensive proposal for a solution of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. The underlying Geneva Accord was a convincing model agreement, and it showed that this protracted conflict is not unsolvable.
The initiative is and remains an important contribution to solving the conflict, and has not disappeared from discussion since. On the contrary, since its first announcement in 2003 hardly a day went by without a mention in a major newspaper. In the minds of those who concern themselves on the highest international level with the settlement of this conflict, the Geneva Initiative is a firmly anchored reference.
swissinfo: Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians are at a standstill. Do you see any grounds for optimism?
N.L.: The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is by no means the only problem in the Middle East. I am clearly of the view, however, that this conflict has an oversize impact not only on the region but also globally and thus contributes to the worsening of the relationship between the West and the Arab–Islamic world.
The fact that this conflict has remained unsolved for over 40 years seriously undermines the credibility of the West and its values. It must be solved if the relationship between the Orient and the Occident is to be relieved. It is not easy to be optimistic though – for too many efforts have failed. Nevertheless I am convinced that a solution is possible, provided that the international community develops the will to seriously attend to this task.
swissinfo: Much is made of a gulf between western and Arab peoples. In your experience, are we really that different?
N.L: No, we are not. We are all humans and basically all have the same aspirations: peace, prosperity and dignity. The tensions today between these two parts of the world are due to the fact that in the case of millions of people in the Arab world these basic aspirations have until today not been fulfilled. It is in the best interest of Western nations to aid the Arab world to come closer to their fulfilment.
swissinfo-interview: Adam Beaumont
Born in 1960, Lang studied law and joined the Swiss foreign ministry in 1990. He completed his diplomatic training in Bern and the Thai capital, Bangkok.
He was assigned to the Swiss Integration Office, which deals with European Union affairs, before being transferred to the Swiss embassy in Abidjan in 1996 as first secretary.
In 1999 he moved to the Swiss liaison office to the Palestinian Authority in East Jerusalem and two years later took over the running of the Swiss Representative Office in Ramallah.
In 2003 he became deputy head of the foreign ministry’s Africa/Middle East division, with the title of minister; two years later he was appointed ambassador and Middle East peace envoy.
He took over as Swiss ambassador to Ghana and Togo last month and will be based in Accra.
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