Discours du Président de la Confédération suisse Guy Parmelin

Mr. President of the General Assembly,

Mr. Secretary-general of the United Nations,

Ladies and gentlemen Heads of state and government,

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

Switzerland is a country of mountains, valleys and different languages. Part of our history, therefore, entailed learning to live with what divides us.

We didn't make the mountains disappear. First we learnt to climb them, then to cross them.

To do so, we built roads, bridges and tunnels. And we realised that a natural boundary is not necessarily a dividing line: it can also be a pathway that connects us.

This very simple experience seems to me to have something to teach us about the world in which we live. For we are going through a time of upheaval.

The international order established in the aftermath of the Second World War is under severe constraints. Conflicts are multiplying and becoming deadlocked. The most fundamental principles of the United Nations Charter – the prohibition of the use of force, and respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity – are being openly violated.

Added to this are transformations that are reshaping our societies: climate change and the increase of disasters, humanitarian crises, inequalities, but also technological upheavals – notably AI – which are often advancing faster than our collective ability to assess their implications.

At the same time, multilateral institutions are having to respond to an increasing number of crises, while facing pressure on resources and an erosion of trust.

The theme of this 81st session of the General Assembly – Restoring Trust, Managing Transformation: a United Nations that Delivers for All – therefore aptly sums up the task before us: to restore trust, to support transformation and to demonstrate, through concrete results, that cooperation remains possible.

This erosion of trust extends far beyond the realms of peace and security.

We are also seeing it in the global economy.

Protectionism is on the rise. Supply chains built up over decades of interdependence are being reorganised or fragmented as a result of geopolitical tensions. The multilateral trading system has been weakened, and the WTO can no longer fully carry out some of its essential functions.

Yet what is at stake here is not merely a technical issue of trade policy.

The question is whether relations between states will continue to be governed by common rules – or whether they will increasingly depend on the weight and power of each individual state.

For Switzerland, this is a fundamental issue.

That is because my country is an open economy with few natural resources. A large part of its prosperity therefore depends on trade, but also on the stability and predictability of the rules that make such trade possible.

Economic resilience requires us to diversify relationships, forge new partnerships and keep trade between different regions of the world as open as possible.

This is particularly important for economies with fewer resources or limited market access.

Access to markets, knowledge and technology can create opportunities that would not otherwise exist.

These abstract concepts encompass quite concrete realities:

A business that can take on an apprentice.

A family that's able to secure a more stable income.

A producer who can trade beyond their local market.

Young people for whom the range of possibilities suddenly widens.

This is also what we mean when we talk about the global economy.

Trust is built when the rules offer everyone a genuine opportunity to participate. It is also built when states continue to engage in dialogue.

Switzerland is neutral. This neutrality goes hand in hand with a steadfast commitment to the UN Charter, international law and the UN's three pillars: peace and security, human rights and sustainable development.

Our experience has also taught us that dialogue is not a sign of weakness.

Engaging in dialogue does not mean glossing over disagreements or abandoning one's principles.

Engaging in dialogue means maintaining contact when positions begin to diverge.

A bridge does not require the two banks of a river to become alike. It simply allows us to cross from one to the other. In times of tension, this possibility often becomes essential.

Dialogue is a tool for de-escalation when crises erupt. Above all, it can serve as a means of prevention before crises arise.

It is in this spirit that Switzerland will continue to offer its good offices and provide spaces where those who are no longer on speaking terms can, when circumstances permit, resume dialogue.

Geneva is one such space.

It is home to the UN, the WTO and numerous other international organisations, as well as scientific ones, humanitarian actors, representatives of civil society and permanent missions of almost every country in the world.

Every day, people from different backgrounds, representing interests that are sometimes at odds with one another, come together here. They do not need to agree in order to talk to one another.

This is exactly what gives such a place its value.

Switzerland will therefore continue, as the host state, to ensure that Geneva remains open, accessible and inclusive – for large states and small, for the North and the South.

But inclusion is not merely about having a seat at the table:

it also means being able to make a real contribution to decisions that will affect one's own future.

This is the case with international cooperation.

Every society must be able to shape its future in accordance with its history, needs and priorities. Cooperation is not about imposing one's own values or a single model. It is valuable when it creates partnerships, facilitates the sharing of expertise and strengthens everyone's capacity to act independently.

It is less about doing things for others than doing things with them.

This principle takes on particular significance in the face of current technological revolutions.

AI is the most obvious illustration of this.

It offers considerable new possibilities in science, the economy, medicine, education and the management of our resources. But it also highlights the risk of a new divide between those who have the skills and infrastructure needed to participate in this transformation and those who are likely to feel only its effects.

We must ensure that technological progress broadens opportunities without widening the gaps.

This means that as many countries and societies as possible must be able to benefit from advances in AI, develop their skills and contribute to the debate on the rules that will govern its development and use.

This is precisely the aim of the Geneva AI Summit, which will take place on 21 and 22 June 2027 under the motto ‘Bridging Innovation and Trust’.

These two concepts must go hand in hand.

Innovation in which societies no longer have confidence risks being rejected.

Conversely, rules that would prevent all innovation would deprive us of enormous potential.

Our responsibility is therefore to strike a balance: to enable progress and promote its benefits, while creating the conditions for the reliable and responsible development and use of these technologies.

AI thus reminds us of a simple truth: certain transformations are so far-reaching and so fast-moving that no single state can manage all their consequences by itself.

We need institutions capable of dealing with issues that transcend national borders.

We need multilateralism.

But multilateralism will only retain its credibility if it is also able to evolve.

Switzerland therefore supports efforts to reform the UN system as part of the UN80 initiative. This reform must make the UN more coherent, more effective and more results-oriented, while respecting the powers and responsibilities of member states.

The UN must focus its efforts where its action brings real added value: when problems transcend borders, when national or regional capacities are insufficient, or when a universal institution is needed to provide a common framework.

The key question is therefore a simple one: how can we ensure that the resources, expertise and energy invested in the multilateral system yield better results for those it is meant to serve?

Because our institutions do not exist for their own sake.

They exist for the people.

For those who live in fear of conflict.

For those who have lost their home following a disaster.

For those seeking work or building a future for themselves.

For the children whose lives depend on access to education and the new opportunities we are creating today.

It is on this scale that the value of multilateralism is ultimately measured.

Ladies and gentlemen

We cannot make the diverging interests of our countries disappear.

We cannot erase disagreements, rivalries or borders.

Nor can we remove all the mountains that stand between us.

But we can determine how we wish to tackle them.

We can preserve open dialogue rather than erect more barriers.

We can keep the channels of communication open rather than resign ourselves to silence.

We can ensure that technological progress creates more opportunities rather than new divisions.

And we can reform our institutions rather than accept their gradual demise.

Switzerland will continue to play its part, using the means at its disposal: by upholding international law, promoting dialogue, providing its good offices, supporting effective multilateral institutions, and remaining a country where the world can continue to come together and engage.

We do not claim to have all the answers.

But our experience in the Alps has taught us one simple thing: while a mountain might separate us, it can just as easily be crossed.

Crossing it brings people together.

Coming together encourages dialogue.

Dialogue fosters trust.

Perhaps this is where our shared responsibility begins: to keep open the pathways that allow us, despite our differences, to continue moving forward hand in hand.

Thank you.