Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of the Swiss Confederation
Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of the Swiss Confederation
09/01/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/01/2026 03:31
OSCE conference in Bern: Swiss chair-personship looks to the organisation's future
Press releasePublished on 1 September 2026
OSCE conference in Bern: Swiss chair-personship looks to the organisation's future
Bern, 01.09.2026 - 'From Geneva to Helsinki: founding process and core purpose of the OSCE' is the theme of the international conference that Switzerland is hosting on 3 and 4 September 2026. Organised in partnership with the Dodis (Diplomatic Documents of Switzerland) research centre, the conference is taking place under the country's chairpersonship of the OSCE. Senior representatives of OSCE participating states and of the political and academic worlds will be examining the founding principles of the organisation and its future role in a changing geopolitical landscape.
The high-level segment of the conference will take place on 3 September at the University of Bern, under the aegis of the 18th International Conference of Editors of Diplomatic Documents (ICEDD). Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis, this year's chairman-in-office of the OSCE, will speak about the organisation's foundational ethos and its future direction. In the same segment, there will be a panel discussion on the topic 'From Helsinki to today: does the spirit still matter?' Participants will include Feridun Sinirlioğlu, the OSCE secretary general, and Umberto Vattani, former secretary general of the Italian foreign ministry. Daniel Möckli, head of the Center for Security Studies Think Tank at ETH Zurich, will chair the discussion.
Organised by the Dodis research centre with the support of the FDFA, the ICEDD will provide researchers and other interested parties with an evidence-based look at the founding phase of the OSCE's precursor, the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe. Sacha Zala, director of Dodis, will discuss the current status of international research.
The conference in Bern is the third of four international conferences in Switzerland focusing on the implementation of the priorities of Switzerland's chairpersonship of the OSCE. These are the Helsinki principles for lasting peace, inclusive multilateral diplomacy, anticipating new technologies, strengthening democracy and human rights, and securing the OSCE's ability to act. Switzerland will complete its chairpersonship year at the annual meeting of the OSCE Ministerial Council on 3 and 4 December 2026 in Lugano.
Switzerland's 2026 OSCE chairpersonship
Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of the Swiss Confederation published this content on September 01, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on September 01, 2026 at 09:32 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]