GENEVA, July 15. /TASS/. NATO will open an office in Geneva to strengthen ties with Geneva-based international organizations, according an agreement signed by the sides.

"NATO is opening a multilateral liaison office in Geneva to engage with the international and non-governmental organizations based there. In Bern today, the director general of the Directorate of International Law at the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), Franz Perrez, and John Swords, the legal adviser and director of the NATO Office of Legal Affairs, signed an agreement governing the office's legal status," the Swiss government said in a press statement.

"After New York and Vienna, NATO is now seeking to strengthen its ties with international organizations in Geneva too. To this end, it announced in summer 2023 its intention to open a liaison office in Geneva," it said. "Switzerland is facilitating this office's establishment in its capacity as a host state. <…> The agreement governs matters including the legal status of the liaison office, as well as privileges and immunities. It was concluded on the basis of Switzerland's Host State Act."

The Swiss government recalled that it had received a NATO request for opening a liaison office in late 2023. "After the Federal Council approved the opening of such an office, the FDFA was instructed to work out the next steps in cooperation with NATO. After consulting the Cantons of Geneva and Vaud, the Federal Council approved the signing of the headquarters agreement on 26 June 2024," it said.

Bern reiterated its course toward strengthening ties with NATO, including its participations in military drills, in the foreign policy strategy for 2024-2027 that was adopted on January 31, 2024.

Switzerland, which is neither a member of NATO nor of the European Union, supports the EU anti-Russian sanctions imposed after the beginning of Russia’ special military operation in Ukraine. Russia has put Switzerland on its list of unfriendly states.