Erich Vontobel stands with the flag of Artsakh in front of the Swiss parliament on March 18, 2025.
The Swiss Peace Initiative for Nagorno Karabakh is a parliamentary-backed diplomatic effort to facilitate dialogue between Azerbaijan and representatives of the displaced Armenian population. It seeks to convene an international peace forum under Swiss mediation to negotiate the safe return of the 120,000 Armenian Christians expelled after Azerbaijan’s 2023 invasion. The initiative is based on Motion 24.4259, successfully led through both chambers by National Councillor Erich Vontobel (EDU, ZH). At the founding event of the cross-party committee in Bern on May 26, 2025, Vontobel—co-chair of the committee —recounted his 2024 visit to Armenia and the path to passing the motion.
It is a miracle that we are gathering here today on this topic. This miracle began in January 2024, when I was given responsibility in our parliamentary group for two matters concerning Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh in the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council.
My wife and I were considering in autumn 2024 where we wanted to go on vacation, and I suggested: “Let’s go to Armenia and see what it looks like there and what is happening there.” During our vacation in Armenia in early October, I met refugees from Nagorno Karabakh, including their official representatives. They asked me: “Please do something so that we can return. So that we may see our cemeteries and schools again.” A woman showed me a video of her former house, in which another family now lives – a sight that broke my heart. That’s when I knew: I must and want to act. I promised this to that woman and to the refugees.
One week after our return, I submitted a proposal for a parliamentary motion in the Foreign Affairs Committee. The goal: an international peace forum for the displaced people of Nagorno Karabakh. To my surprise, the majority of the committee supported this motion. But there was also opposition. Someone said to me: “Erich, withdraw this motion. It might barely pass in the National Council, but you have no chance in the Council of States (the Swiss upper house).”
But withdrawal was not an option for me. I had promised in Armenia to commit myself. The displacement of over 100,000 people is a clear violation of international law. If we simply accept this and don’t even offer our good offices, we lose our credibility as a neutral state.
In December, the motion came to a vote in the National Council; I gave a speech there. The Council said yes – with votes from the left all the way across to the center-right parties. It was a highlight of my political work in Bern so far. For the first time, I saw a real chance to achieve something significant for justice and peace in Nagorno Karabakh. In March, the Council of States also agreed. Not only we in Switzerland celebrated – the displaced people in Armenia also had hope for the first time again.
The Federal Council now has a mandate. But we must not rest on our laurels. The peace forum must be organized. Just two weeks ago, I stood before the Lachin Corridor, once the gateway to Nagorno Karabakh, today a symbol of displacement and war. I saw the Azerbaijani positions. The situation in the South Caucasus is explosive. Many fear that Azerbaijan, after Nagorno Karabakh, also wants to conquer the Zangezur Corridor in southern Armenia. We must now signal together with other states that we are vigilant and watching closely – and at the same time take a step toward peace and dialogue.
This is exactly the step we are taking today with the founding of the “Swiss Peace Initiative for Nagorno Karabakh.” Here we are making a statement: a statement for dialogue, for return, and for justice.
The motion does not call for heavy-handed intervention. It calls for a negotiating table – a table where the displaced people also have a place, people whom nobody really cares about at the moment; a table where safe and dignified return is negotiated. Switzerland has the necessary expertise, tradition, and trust. It is our duty to assume this role now.
Erich Vontobel will speak at a Capitol Hill briefing on the Swiss Peace Initiative for Nagorno Karabakh, hosted by the Armenian National Committee of America on July 8, from 3:00 to 4:00 pm EDT at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, D.C. More information is available here.
