Parmelin calls for cooperation at UN amid global tensions

Guy Parmelin used Switzerland’s rotating presidency to make a direct appeal for cooperation at a UN General Assembly confronting deepening geopolitical divisions. Speaking in New York on September 22, the Swiss president told governments to show that dialogue and collective action remain possible, even as conflicts, strategic rivalry and economic fragmentation put pressure on the international system.

Parmelin presented Switzerland’s multilingual political culture as a practical example of managing disagreement. A country shaped by several languages, regions and political traditions, Switzerland has built institutions that require negotiation across differences. “Our experience has taught us that dialogue is not a sign of weakness,” he said.

The speech placed Switzerland’s domestic experience within a much wider crisis. Parmelin said the world had reached “a tipping point” and warned that core principles of the UN Charter were being openly violated. He specifically cited the prohibition on the use of force and respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity.

His message carried particular weight because Switzerland combines military neutrality with an active diplomatic presence. Geneva hosts UN agencies, humanitarian organisations and international negotiations. Parmelin argued that the city can remain a meeting place for states with sharply competing interests, provided access stays open to large and small countries alike.

Switzerland’s multilingual system gave Parmelin the foundation for his central argument: political differences can be managed through institutions, patience and repeated contact. He described the country’s experience as evidence that borders and disagreements do not have to block cooperation.

“A natural border can also become a place of passage,” Parmelin told the assembly. The line reflects Switzerland’s position at the centre of Europe, where mountains have historically separated communities while also creating routes for trade, migration and exchange. The country’s four national languages, German, French, Italian and Romansh, add a domestic dimension to his appeal for pluralism.

Parmelin also defined cooperation in practical terms. He said partnerships should share knowledge, strengthen each participant’s capacity to act independently and avoid imposing a single model or set of values. “It is less about doing for others than doing with them,” he said.

That emphasis matters for Switzerland’s foreign policy. As a neutral state, Switzerland often seeks influence through mediation, humanitarian engagement and the provision of meeting spaces. Its approach depends on credibility with governments that do not share the same political priorities. The UN speech linked that role to a broader defence of multilateralism, where rules and institutions give smaller countries a voice alongside major powers.

Parmelin warned that the breakdown of trust between states is reaching beyond security and reshaping the global economy. Protectionism, he said, is rising as geopolitical tensions force companies and governments to reorganise supply chains built over decades of interdependence.

The Swiss economics minister called for economic resilience through diversification, new partnerships and open trade between regions. His comments reflect the exposure of a highly connected Swiss economy. Switzerland depends on cross-border commerce, international investment, research networks and reliable access to global markets. Disruption in any of those areas can affect manufacturers, exporters and consumers at home.

Parmelin’s prescription was wider cooperation rather than a return to dependence on a small number of partners. Diversifying relationships can reduce vulnerability, while maintaining open trade can prevent geopolitical rivalry from hardening into permanent economic blocs. That approach also aligns with Switzerland’s traditional interest in predictable rules and stable commercial links.

He connected the economic argument to the future of international institutions. Climate change, technological disruption, public health risks and supply chain shocks cross national borders. Governments can protect specific interests through national measures, but Parmelin argued that no single state can manage the full consequences alone. The speech therefore treated multilateralism as an economic requirement as well as a diplomatic principle.

Geneva will be one of Switzerland’s main platforms for turning Parmelin’s appeal into sustained diplomacy. He said the country would continue to keep the city open, accessible and inclusive for major powers, smaller states, and countries from both the Global North and South.

The next major test of that role will come at the World Summit on Artificial Intelligence in Geneva on June 21-22, 2027. Parmelin highlighted the meeting’s motto, “Bridging Innovation and Trust,” and argued that technological progress must advance alongside confidence between governments, institutions and the public.

Artificial intelligence illustrates the limits of national decision-making. Its effects reach across borders through data, research, business, security and labour markets. Rules developed in isolation risk producing incompatible standards and widening the gap between countries with advanced technology and those without comparable resources. A Geneva process can give governments, researchers and other stakeholders a forum to address those tensions together.

For Switzerland, the summit also offers a chance to reinforce Geneva’s international identity at a time when the relevance of multilateral institutions is under scrutiny. Parmelin’s UN address placed that effort within a larger strategy: preserve channels for negotiation, defend common rules and use Swiss neutrality to keep difficult conversations possible.