CSI Christian Solidarity International
Binz near Maur (Ots)
On July 8, 2025, a preparatory meeting of the Swiss peace initiative in Haut-Karabakh took place at the Congress in Washington. The two national councilors Erich Vontobel and Lukas Reimann, as well as John Eibner, international president of CSI, and Vartan Oskanian, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, spoke of the initiative and luck for the United States to contribute to peace in the South Caucasus after thirty-seven years of war. Christian Solidarity International (CSI) organized this event.
“Does the United States government believe that a fair and lasting peace in the South Caucasus, a region of increasing geopolitical and economic importance, can be based on ethnic and religious cleaning?” This is the question posed by Dr. John Eibner, international president of CSI, on July 8, 2025 in the crowded room of the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington. He added: “If the answer is no, then the United States should support the Swiss peace initiative.”
A little context: in 2023, Azerbaijan blocked for nine months the Haut-Karabakh, populated by Armenians of Christian origin. He then launched a military offensive which led to the expulsion of the entire population, almost one hundred and twenty thousand people. During the 2020 war, some thirty thousand Armenians had already been expelled from Haut-Karabakh.
Eric Vontobel: “Risk of a new escalation”
In March 2025, the Swiss Federal Assembly in Bern adopted a motion requesting the summons of an international forum of peace between Azerbaijan and the representatives of the Haut-Karabakh Armenians. The objective of this motion is to negotiate the framework conditions for the safe return of displaced persons.
In Washington, the national councilor Erich Vontobel (UDF, ZH), who had tabled this motion, spoke of his meetings with refugees he met during his trip to Armenia in 2024. They asked him: “Please do something so that we can go home.” A woman showed him a video of her house, which is now occupied by another family. “This image broke my heart. So I knew I had to act.”
Referring to the American Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Erich Vontobel stressed that there was “a real risk of a new escalation between Azerbaijan and Armenia”. In southern Armenia, residents told him of their fear that their region would also be threatened after the fall of Haut-Karabakh. “If we are looking at what happened in Haut-Karabakh, Azerbaijan will think that it can act without consequences,” warned Mr. Vontobel. Switzerland is able to set up a peace forum: “What we need now is broad international support, especially from the United States.”
Lukas Reimann: “A rare sign of unity”
National Councilor Lukas Reimann (UDC, SG) said that “famine organized by the State and military violence, which recall the Armenian genocide”, supported by Azerbaijan, aroused great dismay in Switzerland. He stressed that the peace initiative had received support from all ten parties represented in the Swiss Federal Assembly. This is an “extremely rare sign of unity”. Mr. Reimann assured: “We cannot accept and we will not accept that these families cannot return to their homeland.” The Swiss peace initiative strengthens international law, has a soothing effect and indicates that ethnic expulsions cannot be simply accepted.
Vartan Oskanian: “They just want to go home”
The former Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vartan Oskanian, Chairman of the Committee for the Protection of Fundamental Rights of the People of Haut-Karabakh, recalled the history of Haut-Karabakh: “This region has been inhabited by the Armenians for centuries. Over the last thirty years, the Armenians have exercised a total autonomy and led a democratic life. Haut-Karabakh resigned themselves to the new reality.
Oskanian acknowledged that the United States considered Azerbaijan as a partner on several levels. But geopolitical considerations do not justify silence on the expulsion of one hundred and fifty thousand people. Mr. Oskanian: “This sends a bad signal and creates a dangerous precedent.” With the support of the United States, the Swiss initiative could allow the return of the expelled people from their home.
Donald Trump’s promise
The national councilor Erich Vontobel stressed that the Swiss peace initiative did not require neither sanctions nor intervention: “She asked for a table, a place of dialogue, with the participation of displaced persons.” During the 2024 US electoral campaign, the current American president Donald Trump promised to end the ethnic cleaning of Christians in Haut-Karabakh. “The Swiss peace initiative offers the United States an excellent opportunity to keep President Donald Trump’s promise and thus contribute to a lasting peace that will benefit the United States and all peoples of the region, regardless of their ethnic or religious identity,” said John Eibner.
More information
Contact:
Joel Veldkamp | CSI advocacy manager 044 982 33 10 | [email protected]
Simon Brechbühl | Director of CSI-Swiss 044 982 33 40 | [email protected]
Laurent Schlatter | Head of CSI-Swiss Romande 044 982 33 70 | [email protected]
