Explainer: Why NATO Is Opening An Office In Geneva

(MENAFN- Swissinfo) The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) will open a liaison office in Geneva later this year, raising concerns about Swiss neutrality and the city's reputation as the“capital of peace”. SWI swissinfo explains what is at stake.

Dorian covers the work of international organisations based in Geneva.

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Last October Swiss media group TamediaExternal link revealed that NATO, a Brussels-based political and military alliance whose 32 members have grown closer since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, wanted to establish an office in Geneva.

The news was later confirmed. In July an agreement to set up a NATO liaison office in Geneva was signed between the organisation and the Swiss government. But the arrival of NATO on neutral Swiss soil has sparked controversy in Switzerland. Here is what you need to know.

Swiss authorities stress that NATO's presence in Switzerland will be a liaison office allowing the North Atlantic Alliance to deepen its exchanges with the organisations based in Geneva, among them the United Nations (UN). But they insist it will not cover bilateral relations between NATO and the Swiss Confederation.

NATO has similar offices in Vienna and in New York, two other UN hubs. Once its Geneva office is up and running, in the autumn, the alliance will have a liaison office in each of the main UN locations except for Nairobi, in Kenya.

The organisation will be housed at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP) – an international foundation offering training in the fields of peace promotion and security – which is located inside the“Maison de la Paix”, in the heart of the international quarter. It will employ one person.

Geneva is a major centre for multilateral diplomacy and is at the forefront of governance in areas including disarmament and international humanitarian law, which sets the rules of war.

The European headquarters of the UN and several of its specialised agencies are based in the city, including the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) also has its head office in Geneva.

It is therefore a strategic location for the North Atlantic Alliance, which has been working with the UN on peacekeeping operations for many years. It has, for example, taken part in UN-mandated military operations in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Afghanistan and Libya.

From Geneva, NATO will have access to diplomats from almost the entire international community, with more than 180 countries represented in the Swiss city. It will also be able to interact with the 750 non-governmental organisations based in Geneva, some of which are active in security or demining.

+ Russia's invasion of Ukraine has shaken neutral European countries, making NATO more attractive to some of them:

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