Thomas Greminger

Ambassador Thomas Greminger is the Director of the Geneva Center for Security Policy (GCSP) since 1 May 2021. Previously, he served as Secretary General of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) from July 2017 until July 2020. In this capacity he acted as an effective crisis manager supporting successive Chairmanships in an increasingly polarized environment and promoted dialogue among the 57 OSCE participating States as one of his key priorities.

Ambassador Greminger served as Deputy Director General of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation at the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs from 2015 to 2017 and as the Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the OSCE, the United Nations and the International Organizations in Vienna from 2010 to 2015. He was instrumental in devising the consecutive chairmanships and joint work plan of Switzerland (2014) and Serbia (2015); in 2014 he chaired the Permanent Council of the OSCE and was strongly involved in managing the crisis in and around Ukraine.

From 2004 to 2010, he served as Head of the Human Security Division of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. During his tenure, the division offered and supported facilitation and mediation services to more than half a dozen peace processes worldwide and launched a number of important diplomatic initiatives, including those which led to the creation of the UN Human Rights Council, the UN International Tracing Instrument for SALW, and the Geneva Declaration on Armed Violence and Development.

Ambassador Greminger also served as Deputy Head of the Human Security Division from 2002 to 2004, and from 1999 to 2001 as Country Director at the Swiss Embassy in Maputo, Mozambique. From 1994 to 1998, he served in different posts in the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, including Head of the Policy and Research Unit.

Ambassador Greminger holds a PhD in history from the University of Zurich. He is Lieutenant Colonel GS (company and battalion commander of infantry unit of the Swiss Armed Forces; G6 and Deputy Chief of Staff of Infantry Brigade). He has authored numerous publications on military history, conflict management, peacekeeping, development and human rights.