Editing Flavio Cotti (section)

== Federal Council ==
Cotti was elected to the [[Federal Council of Switzerland]] on 10 December 1986, succeeding [[Alphons Egli]], and resigned on 30 April 1999.<ref name=":1" /> During his time in office he headed the [[Department of Home Affairs (Switzerland)|Federal Department of Home Affairs]] (1987–1993)<ref name=":1" /> and the [[Federal Department of Foreign Affairs]] (1994–1999).<ref name=":1" /> He was [[President of the Confederation (Switzerland)|President of the Confederation]] twice, first in 1991 and then again in 1998.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|title=Presidents of the Confederation|url=https://www.admin.ch/gov/en/start/bundespraesidium/bundespraesidenten-und-schweizer-geschichte/praesidenten-seit1848-liste.html|access-date=17 December 2020|publisher=The Federal Council}}</ref>

Cotti's political philosophy was one of optimistic [[globalism]], and he liked to be seen as a visionary and as an ''[[homme des lettres]]''.<ref name=":0" /> A convinced [[Pro-Europeanism|Europhile]], Cotti was instrumental in bringing about the Federal Council's 1992 decision to seek Swiss membership of the [[European Union]] – a move that backfired a few months later when Swiss voters rejected membership in the [[European Economic Area]], blocking further Swiss integration with the EU.<ref name=":0" /> In this and other areas, Cotti's visions proved incompatible with Switzerland's complicated and slow [[consensus politics]], which earned him the nickname of "minister of announcements" (''Ankündigungsminister'').<ref name=":0" />

As Switzerland's foreign minister since 1994, Cotti helped salvage [[Switzerland–European Union relations|Switzerland's relationship with the EU]] by negotiating and concluding a series of treaties that now govern Swiss–EU relations.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|last=Keystone-SDA/jdp|title=Former Swiss president and UN champion Flavio Cotti dies|url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/former-swiss-president-and-un-champion-flavio-cotti-dies--/46229758|access-date=17 December 2020|website=[[Swissinfo]]|date=17 December 2020 |language=en}}</ref> He led Swiss negotiations to settle [[World Jewish Congress lawsuit against Swiss banks|claims of Holocaust survivors against Switzerland and Swiss banks]].<ref name=":4" /> He was a strong advocate of Switzerland's accession to the [[United Nations]], which voters only agreed to after his time in office in 2002.<ref name=":4" /> Cotti also prominently represented the country abroad, gaining international recognition as the first Swiss president of the [[Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe|OSCE]].<ref name=":0" />