Federal Councillor Martin Pfister to attend UN Peacekeeping Ministerial in Berlin
Bern, 13.05.2025 — On 13 May, Federal Councillor Martin Pfister, Head of the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS), will attend the United Nations (UN) Peacekeeping Ministerial conference in Berlin. Markus Mäder, State Secretary for Security Policy, will also attend. The conference will focus on issues in security policy and international cooperation on future peacekeeping activities. On the fringes of the conference, Mr Pfister will meet with German defence minister Boris Pistorius and Italian defence minister Guido Crosetto.
The two-day UN Peacekeeping Ministerial provides a forum for foreign affairs and defence ministers to meet and discuss the future of UN peacekeeping activities. Discussions will centre on the need to modify peacekeeping against a backdrop of heightened threats, difficult conflict situations and increased global tension. Participation in this conference is important for Switzerland as it is committed to the further development of UN peacekeeping and is expanding both the quality and quantity of its contributions. This objective is set out in the DDPS report of 9 November 2020 on the further development of military peace promotion (Press release in German from 25.11.2020). In addition, the Federal Council has been intensifying international cooperation in security policy since the 2022 supplementary report (de, fr, it) on the Security Policy Report.
The UN Peacekeeping Ministerial is the highest-level intergovernmental peacekeeping conference of the UN. Over 700 participants are expected to attend this year’s conference. The Swiss Armed Forces have been supporting the UN in peacekeeping missions since 1989. Around 35 Swiss officers are currently serving with the UN in African countries, the Middle East, India and Pakistan. In total, approximately 300 members of the Swiss Armed Forces are involved in military peace promotion worldwide.
Bilateral meetings with German and Italian defence ministers
Mr Pfister will also make use of the opportunity to meet with German defence minister Boris Pistorius and Italian defence minister Guido Crosetto. Their discussions will cover the geopolitical situation and bilateral cooperation.