Welcome to Alain Berset’s personal website. He has been Secretary General of the Council of Europe since 2024; his speeches, news and agenda are gathered here. Before Strasbourg, Switzerland: a member of the Federal Council from 2012 to 2023, and President of the Confederation in 2018, then again in 2023.
Latest video
BBC News — interview with the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, from Washington
25 September 2026Washington D.C.Council of Europe5 minInterview with BBC News from Washington, during the US leg of the Secretary General’s visit to the United States (20-26 September 2026). The programme’s on-screen banners read “UN general assembly continues in New York”, then “War in Ukraine dominates UNGA meetings”. In English.
Source: BBC News ·
News
“The Council of Europe is building a common legal space for an order now in rupture” – Alain Berset
29 September 2026 — Strasbourg · Addressing the Parliamentary Assembly on Tuesday 29 September, Secretary General Alain Berset highlighted progress in strengthening the Council of Europe’s role on the international stage, ensuring justice for Ukraine and adapting the organisation to the new geopolitical reality.
“Law is Europe’s form of power”: Alain Berset brings democratic security message to Washington
25 September 2026 — Washington, D.C., United States · “In a fragmenting world, law remains the last common language capable of restraining power.” That was the message that Secretary General Alain Berset of the 46-member Council of Europe brought to Washington this week, as he discussed Ukraine, democratic security and the future of international cooperation with US elected representatives and officials, the Organization of American States (OAS), and audiences at two leading Washington institutions.
Press
- Russia Systematically Violates Human Rights in Occupied Ukrainian Territories, Council of Europe Says
- Council of Europe: Human Rights Situation in Occupied Ukrainian Territories Continues to Deteriorate, Warns Against Russian Duma Elections There
- CoE Secretary General highlights the role of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Türkiye
- Berset: Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia and Turkey in Europe's new geopolitical center of gravity
- Prince Albert II calls for stronger multilateralism as Monaco hosts Council of Europe ambassadors
Speeches
“Voices from Ukraine”: Parliamentary Assembly side-event on the Council of Europe Action Plan “Democratic Security for Ukraine” 2027-2030
29 September 2026 — Strasbourg · Yesterday afternoon, a Russian drone struck the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in the heart of Kyiv. Scientists and staff were killed at their desks.
Parliamentary Assembly Autumn Session – Q&A Opening
29 September 2026 — Strasbourg · I am pleased to be joined by Tanja Gonggrijp for her first PACE session as Deputy Secretary General. It is not our only first. Last week, we opened the Council of Europe’s first permanent observer office to the United Nations in New York. Ukraine’s Foreign Affairs Minister Andrii Sybiha was there with us. It gives us a stronger voice where decisions affecting Europe’s future are discussed.
Agenda
Parliamentary Assembly Autumn Session
28 September 2026 - 30 September 2026Visit to New York and Washington: UN General Assembly and opening of the Council of Europe Observer Office
20 September 2026 - 26 September 2026Alain Berset in Zurich: 80 years after Churchill’s speech, what is the future of European unity?
16 September 2026
Former President of the Swiss Confederation and Head of the Federal Department of Home Affairs in charge of health, social security, culture, gender equality, prevention of racism, amongst other areas.
A Swiss politician with longstanding experience at the highest executive and legislative levels engaged in solution-oriented consensus-building, decision-making and responsible for the management of complex structures.
Fully committed to multilateralism, international law, the rule of law and human rights and steadfastly engaged for the respect of democratic principles and strong institutions at the national and international levels.
I have always been committed to human rights, democracy and the rule of law. As Secretary General of the Council of Europe, the Reykjavík Declaration is the compass guiding my commitment to our shared values and the people who call our continent home.
Signing ceremony with Moldovan President Maia Sandu during her official visit to Switzerland. Photo: Keystone
Exchange with students at the University of Lausanne during the state visit of President Emmanuel Macron to Switzerland, 16 November 2023. Photo: FDFA
Discussion with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on the sidelines of the European Political Community summit in Granada. Photo: Keystone
→ Committed
to promoting operational action by the Council of Europe supporting Ukraine and its people in the face of Russia’s war of aggression.
→ Determined
to ensure that the Council of Europe carries real political weight on our continent.
→ Convinced
that democratic principles and ‘living together’ are the core strengths of a European family of nations founded on the rule of law.
→ Resolved
to put the commitments made at the Summit in Reykjavík into action.
Official meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Ottawa. Photo: Office of the Prime Minister
At the WEF in Davos with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska, 17 January 2023. Photo: Keystone
Exchange with UN Secretary-General António Guterres at the UN Climate Change Conference COP28 in Dubai. Photo: COP28