Two representatives of the State Department were in the audience in Washington on Thursday when Trump’s “Board of Peace” met for the first time. What do they say about the board?
02/20/2026, 09:1002/20/2026, 09:10
When the Peace Council met for its first official meeting on Thursday in Washington, there was also a delegation from Switzerland in the room. At the invitation of the American government, which pulls the strings at the “Board of Peace”, Monika dirt Kirgöz, head of the Department for the Middle East and North Africa in the EDA Department of Foreign Affairs, and the Swiss ambassador Ralf Heckner also took part in the three-hour event.
In the front, the members of the new Board of Peace give their speeches, the observers sit in the audience and listen: The first meeting on Thursday in Washington.Image: keystone
Namely, as observers who were unable to intervene directly in what was happening. There were also diplomats from Germany, Austria and Italy in the audience – of Switzerland’s large neighbors, only France was not represented.
After the meeting, Dirt Kirgöz said: “It was important to be there.” As announced by the American organizers, the meeting focused primarily on Gaza and the situation of the Palestinians. These are topics on which Switzerland has a lot to say, and that is why the FDFA wanted to get involved. “We want to know where the journey is going,” said Dirt Kirgöz at a press conference in Washington. Ultimately, the “Board of Peace” is currently the only transnational body in which the future of Gaza is being discussed (on behalf of the UN).
Diplomat and EDA representative dirt Kirgöz.Image: KEYSTONE
Permanent membership in the Peace Council, whose president for life is Donald Trump, costs a billion dollars. Dirt Kirgöz did not want to reveal to the media representatives present whether she would campaign for Switzerland to join the Peace Council after her return to Bern. The Federal Council is currently clarifying the next steps. Ultimately, Parliament and the electorate would also have to say yes to entry.
In principle, said the EDA representative, Switzerland is committed to multilateralism, international law and the United Nations. Anyone who wanted to could conclude from this statement that Federal Bern was skeptical about the new organization.
It is still unclear when the Peace Council will meet again
Trump took direct aim at critics of the new organization on Thursday. He described the attitude of some unnamed world politicians towards the Peace Council as posturing (“playing a little cute”). But it won’t work with him. Sooner or later everyone would become members, Trump predicted.
Ralf Heckner, the Swiss ambassador to the USA.Image: zvg/EDA
Ambassador Heckner said: “I didn’t feel personally addressed.” Trump’s statement should not be understood as a hidden threat against observer nations such as Switzerland. His contacts in the American State Department also assured him of this.
Nevertheless, Bern must of course be careful not to expose itself too much – after all, Switzerland and the USA are currently discussing a new trade agreement that should be in place by the end of March.
It was not known on Thursday when the Peace Council would next meet. And it is therefore unclear whether Switzerland will continue to enjoy observer status. This is probably a decision that Trump has not yet made.