Secretary General Berset opens Council of Europe UN Observer Office during General Assembly High-Level Week in New York
Secretary General Alain Berset will visit New York and Washington D.C., attending the UN General Assembly High-Level Week, opening the Council of Europe’s new Permanent Observer Office to the United Nations and holding high-level meetings and public discussions on multilateralism, democratic security and the international law-based order. He will argue for stronger cooperation between international and regional organisations. During the New York leg of his visit, Alain Berset is due to meet UN Secretary-General António Guterres and senior UN officials. Meetings are also planned with high-level representatives of the African Union Commission, the Arab League, the Gulf Cooperation Council as well as Council of Europe member states. He will attend the opening of the UN General Assembly General Debate on 22 September and participate in the UN side event “Delivering Social Rights, Renewing Democracy: From Doha and Chișinău to a New Democratic Pact for Europe”, co-organised by the Council of Europe. In Washington, the Secretary General will meet senior elected representatives, address the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) and participate in public discussions at Georgetown University and the Hudson Institute. The visit comes as 2026 marks 30 years since the United States became an Observer State to the Council of Europe, providing an opportunity to look at the future of the transatlantic relationship as Europe assumes greater responsibility for its own security and democracies on both sides of the Atlantic confront new geopolitical and technological challenges.
