Diplomacy Federal Council to spend 269 million on international Geneva
The Federal Council wants to invest a good quarter of a billion francs in International Geneva. On Friday, it passed the corresponding proposals to Parliament.
20.06.2025, 13:30
SDA
The package is worth a total of CHF 269 million. The aim is to maintain and strengthen the city's role as the seat of international organizations, as the national government announced on Friday. Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis wanted to provide information on the plans at a media conference in Bern.
In the communiqué, the Federal Council explained that in recent months, cuts in contributions or suspension of payments by individual states had led to liquidity bottlenecks at international organizations. Numerous Geneva-based institutions have been forced to drastically reduce their budgets, cut staff or even consider relocating abroad.
In this situation, the Federal Council says it wants to ensure that Geneva remains an attractive location.
The support measures proposed by the Federal Council include a supplementary credit of CHF 21.5 million for the current year. Secondly, the Federal Council is requesting a credit of CHF 130.4 million for the years 2026 - 2029. This sum includes CHF 21.5 million for the continuation of the urgent measures begun in 2025 in the coming year.
The third pillar of the package concerns the real estate foundation for international organizations. On the one hand, the Federal Council is suspending the repayment of loans to the foundation for certain organizations for the years 2025 and 2026.
In addition, the Federal Council is requesting an interest-free loan of CHF 78 million with a term of 50 years to the foundation. The money will reportedly be used to renovate a third of its property portfolio.
