Council of Europe Secretary General Alain Berset to Inaugurate Permanent UN Observer Office in New York and Strengthen Transatlantic Ties 

Council of Europe Secretary General Alain Berset will inaugurate the organization’s new Permanent Observer Office to the United Nations in New York on September 21, 2026, during UN General Assembly high-level week. The move establishes a lasting platform for deeper cooperation between regional and international bodies amid rising geopolitical tensions. Berset’s subsequent engagements in Washington, D.C., will mark 30 years of U.S. observer status and advance dialogue on democracy, security, and multilateralism.

Raman Media Network Political Desk
New Delhi | September 19, 2026

Council of Europe Secretary General Alain Berset is scheduled to visit New York and Washington, D.C., from September 20 to 26, 2026. The centerpiece of the mission is the official opening of the Council of Europe’s Permanent Observer Office to the United Nations in New York on September 21.

The new office, representing the 46-member organization, creates a permanent base for sustained engagement with the United Nations, non-member states, and other international institutions. It comes at a time of increasing pressure on multilateral systems and growing geopolitical fragmentation. Berset is expected to use the platform to promote stronger structural links between global and regional organizations in support of an international rules-based order.

In New York, Berset will hold a bilateral meeting with United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres and engage with other senior UN officials. Additional discussions are planned with representatives from the African Union Commission, the Arab League, the Gulf Cooperation Council, and Council of Europe member states. He will attend the opening of the UN General Assembly general debate on September 22 and take part in a Council of Europe co-organized side event titled “Delivering social rights, renewing democracy: from Doha and Chișinău to a New Democratic Pact for Europe.” Key topics across these meetings include the situation in Ukraine, democratic security, the future of international law, and responses to renewed great-power competition.

Following the New York program, Berset will travel to Washington, D.C., to reinforce transatlantic relations. The year 2026 marks three decades since the United States became an observer state to the Council of Europe. On September 24, he is set to meet members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, participate in a public discussion at Georgetown University titled “A Conversation with Alain Berset,” and visit the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

On September 25, Berset will meet Organization of American States (OAS) Secretary General Albert Ramdin and address the OAS Permanent Council. The OAS, which brings together 35 independent states across the Americas, serves as a key forum for regional political dialogue. Talks are expected to focus on democratic resilience, institutional challenges, and multilateral cooperation.

The Council of Europe and the OAS maintain a long-standing partnership centered on human rights, democracy, and the rule of law. Their operational cooperation spans constitutional law, cybercrime, artificial intelligence, anti-corruption efforts, drug policy, and the prevention of violence against women. Thirty OAS member states are parties to Council of Europe conventions.

Berset will conclude the visit with a fireside discussion at the Hudson Institute examining current challenges to democracy, security, and the global order.

The establishment of the New York Permanent Observer Office strengthens the Council of Europe’s capacity to contribute to international efforts on human rights, democratic security, and the rule of law at a pivotal moment for multilateral cooperation.