On 6 March 2025 in Riga, the Ambassador at Large, Director of the UN Security Council Task Force, Andrejs Pildegovičs, and the Director of the Department of International Organizations and Human Rights, Katrīna Kaktiņa-Kalniņa, met with the Chief of UN Coordination at the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Flavio Milan, to discuss topics on the global agenda and closer coordination in the field of multilateral cooperation.
The conversation with the Foreign Ministry staff focused on the role of small countries in the UNSC, practical issues of the lobby campaign, and lessons learned from Switzerland's two-year tenure on the UN Security Council (2023–2024). Latvia has announced its first-ever candidacy for the UN Security Council. If elected, Latvia’s will assume a seat on the UNSC for a period of two years, in 2026 and 2027.
Latvia’s candidacy to the UN Security Council (2026–2027)
- Latvia stands as a candidate for membership on the UN Security Council for the term of 2026–2027. This one of the long-term objectives of Latvia’s foreign policy, also laid down in the National Development Plan of Latvia for 2021–2027.
- Membership of the UNSC would be one of the most important instruments for the pursuit and protection of Latvia’s foreign policy interests, and make it possible to further expand of Latvia’s international cooperation, contributing to world peace and resilience, and to express support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
- The motto of Latvia’s campaign is “Together for peace and resilience”.
- The elections will take place this coming June, in New York. To be elected, Latvia requires affirmative votes of two thirds of UN member states.
- Latvia’s candidacy to the United Nations Security Council (2026–2027)
Work accomplished by the UNSC membership (2023–2024) of Switzerland
Switzerland had set four thematic priorities for its term on the UNSC (2023–2024):
- building sustainable peace;
- protecting civilians in armed conflicts;
- addressing climate security;
- enhancing effectiveness of the Security Council.
A particular success for Switzerland was the adoption in May 2024 of the UNSC resolution on the protection of humanitarian and UN personnel in conflict zones. Switzerland was also co-chair of the Informal Expert Group on Climate, Peace, and Security. Switzerland promoted the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda, especially during its presidencies in May 2023 and October 2024. During its presidency in October 2024, Switzerland organised a signature event on the impact of scientific development on international peace and security.
