Switzerland prepares to join the world

The Swiss flag is to take its place among 190 others at UN headquarters RTS

Tuesday marks a watershed in Swiss history, when the country finally becomes a fully participating member of the international community.

The big question now is how exactly will United Nations membership alter Swiss foreign policy?

Until now Switzerland has been the biggest country outside the United Nations. In voting to join the world body last March, the Swiss people were acknowledging that this special status was doing the country more harm than good.

Enough people were persuaded that Swiss neutrality would not be compromised to back membership.

At ease in the world

“It marks a change in mentality,” says Erwin Hofer, the Swiss Foreign Ministry official responsible for relations with the UN.

“The key message is that Swiss people are now at ease in a worldwide organisation – they are ready to share problems and hopes with other nations,” he told swissinfo.

The admission to this club of both Switzerland and East Timor is of symbolic importance to the United Nations, according to Victor-Yves Ghebali, professor of international relations at Geneva’s Graduate Institute of International Studies: “For the UN it means the attainment of universality,” he says.

In practical terms, though, Swiss UN membership is unlikely to cause shockwaves in world politics, even if another neutral voice will be welcomed.

Friendships and coalitions

It will, however, make Switzerland more visible on the international stage, and allow it to promote the issues it regards as priorities: humanitarian aid, the environment, poverty reduction, human rights, international humanitarian law and trade.

“The Swiss people realise that isolation no longer makes sense. Neutrality must now be considered as an opening to the world and not just as a national entrenchment,” Ghebali told swissinfo.

Switzerland will be just one of 190 members, but joining this club will open a new window of opportunity for Swiss diplomacy, allowing it access to new networks.

“Switzerland has limited experience in multilateral diplomacy. This is a great opportunity to build friendships and coalitions,” says political scientist Curt Gasteyger.

“It will have a platform from which it can take action more directly, negotiate more directly with partners, build alliances on issues it regards as important,” he told swissinfo. “Being in is infinitely better than being out.”

Long courtship

Membership of the UN is merely making official what has been a long courtship.

As well as providing a home for the UN’s European headquarters, Switzerland is already a member of many of the UN’s technical agencies – such as the World Health Organisation and the International Labour Organisation. It is also a major financial contributor.

What it had shied away from, until now, was joining the UN’s political organs: the Security Council and the General Assembly.

Now the government will be obliged to vote on important issues – and this, critics say, will challenge the traditional notion of Swiss neutrality.

“The concept of neutrality is in no way affected,” Hofer retorts.

“Being neutral means staying out of armed conflicts between states. In this sense the UN is the perfect place to be neutral, because its task is to prevent such conflicts and establish the rule of law,” he adds.

Ready to compromise

Swiss non-governmental organisations have called on the government to pursue an independent path in New York and concentrate on those areas, such as human rights and sustainable development, where it can add value through its particular experience or competence.

The foreign minister Joseph Deiss has confirmed that Swiss representatives will adopt an “autonomous” approach, but will not “go it alone”.

“We must be ready to compromise,” he said. From now on, forging partnerships with like-minded countries will be central to pursuing foreign policy goals.

UN membership may also help Switzerland to recapture the leading role it once had in conflict resolution, a job now more likely to be done by Scandinavians. There is reason to believe that coming out of its self-imposed isolation may result in more requests for Switzerland’s good offices.

swissinfo, Roy Probert

Key facts

Switzerland voted in March to join the UN.
It will be one of 190 members.
Switzerland has long contributed funding to the UN.