Foreign relations of Liechtenstein

File:Maltese Consulate, Schaan (1Y7A2240).jpg

Consulate of Malta in Schaan

Liechtenstein's foreign economic policy has been dominated by its customs union with Switzerland (and with Austria-Hungary until World War I). This union also led to its independent membership in the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) in 1991. Unlike Switzerland however (where citizens rejected membership in a referendum), Liechtenstein is part of the European Economic Area.

Liechtenstein was admitted to the United Nations in 1990. It is not a member of most specialized agencies of the United Nations, with the exceptions of the International Telecommunication Union, the Universal Postal Union and the World Intellectual Property Organization.

Liechtenstein has resorted two times to international dispute settlement by the International Court of Justice, in the Nottebohm (Liechtenstein v. Guatemala) case against Guatemala in the 1950s and in a case concerning art property of the Liechtenstein family against Germany in 2005. It lost in both cases.

Liechtenstein maintains resident embassies in Austria, Belgium, Germany, the Holy See, Switzerland and the United States, along with a number of missions to international organisations. Under a 1919 agreement between Liechtenstein and Switzerland, ambassadors of Switzerland are authorised to represent Liechtenstein in countries and in diplomatic situations unless Liechtenstein opts to send its own ambassador.<ref>Jorri Duursma, "Microstates: The Principality of Liechtenstein" in Christin Ingebritsen et al. (2006). Small States in International Relations. (University of Washington Press, Seattle) p. 89 at p. 124.</ref> As of 2024, Liechtenstein has diplomatic relations with 133 UN countries.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Relations with individual countries

International dispute with Czechoslovakia, the Czech Republic and Slovakia

Template:See also The country has an international dispute with the Czech Republic and Slovakia concerning the estates of its princely family in those countries. After World War II, Czechoslovakia, as it then was, acting to seize what it considered to be German possessions, expropriated the entirety of the Liechtenstein dynasty's hereditary lands and possessions in the Czech regions of Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia. The expropriations (which were the subject of an unsuccessful court case brought by Liechtenstein in the German courts and the International Court of Justice) included over Template:Cvt Template:Citation needed (which is ten times the size of Liechtenstein) of agricultural and forest land mostly in Moravia, also including several family castles and palaces. An offer from the Czech Republic to return the palaces and castles (without the surrounding land) was rejected by Liechtenstein.<ref name=adam>Template:Cite news</ref>

Liechtenstein recognised and established diplomatic relations with the Czech Republic on 13 July 2009<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and with Slovakia on 9 December 2009.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Liechtenstein's ruling prince, Hans-Adam II, has announced that the principality will take no further legal action to recover the appropriated assets.<ref name=adam/>

In February 2020, the Czech Constitutional court in Brno rejected a case made by Liechtenstein to get the Czech government to change their classification of the Liechtenstein dynasty as German under the Beneš Decrees.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On 19 August 2020, an inter-state application under the European Convention on Human Rights was made by Liechtenstein to the European Court of Human Rights against the Czech Republic.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Diplomatic relations

List of countries which Liechtenstein maintains diplomatic relations with:

File:Diplomatic relations of Liechtenstein.svg
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Bilateral relations

Americas

Country	Formal relations began on	Notes
Template:Flag	1 July 1994<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	File:Honorary Consulate of Mexico in Liechtenstein.JPG Honorary Consulate of Mexico in Liechtenstein Liechtenstein does not have an embassy accredited to Mexico. Mexico is accredited to Liechtenstein from its embassy in Bern, Switzerland and maintains an honorary consulate in Vaduz. On 13 December 2023, Liechtenstein foreign minister Dominique Hasler met her Mexican counterpart Alicia Bárcena Ibarra in the first official Liechtenstein visit to Mexico.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flag	10 February 1997<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	See Liechtenstein–United States relations Liechtenstein has an embassy in Washington, D.C. United States is accredited to Liechtenstein from its embassy in Bern, Switzerland.

Asia

Country	Formal relations began on	Notes
Template:Flag		See Hong Kong–Liechtenstein relations Signed a tax treaty in 2010.<ref>Double Taxation Relief and Exchange of Information Arrangements > All Agreement (on country / territory basis) > Liechtenstein, Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department, retrieved on 16 October 2017</ref> Have a free trade agreement.<ref>Hong Kong signs free-trade pact with European states Template:Webarchive, Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office New York, May-June 2011, retrieved on 16 October 2017</ref>
Template:Flag	1993<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	See India–Liechtenstein relations
Template:Flag	June 1996<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref>	See Japan–Liechtenstein relations Japan has an honorary consulate in Schaan. The two countries signed a tax treaty in 2012.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref>
Template:Flag	2 March 1993<ref>https://www.mofa.go.kr/eng/nation/m_4902/view.do?seq=104</ref>	See Liechtenstein - South Korea relations Both countries established diplomatic relations on March 02, 1993.<ref>https://www.mofa.go.kr/eng/nation/m_4902/view.do?seq=104</ref> The two states signed a FTA on 15 December 2005.
Template:Flag	2 October 1992<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Turkey established diplomatic relations with Liechtenstein only in 1992 because Switzerland<ref>Sully, Melanie A. A Contemporary History of Austria, Liechtenstein and Switzerland. London: Routledge, 1990.</ref> had taken responsibility for Liechtenstein's foreign relations until early 1990s.<ref>Weidenholzer, Josef. Der liechtensteinische Weg: Einsichten und Aussichten. Vienna: Zimmermann und Karrer, 1999.</ref> Turkey is accredited to Liechtenstein from its embassy in Bern, Switzerland and maintains an honorary consulate in Vaduz.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Europe

Country	Formal relations began on	Notes
Template:Flag	13 July 2009<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	See Czech Republic–Liechtenstein relations The two countries have a long-running dispute regarding the seizure of Liechtenstein assets and properties by the Beneš decrees in 1945.<ref name=":03">Template:Cite web</ref> In 2003, the Czech Republic refused to recognize Liechtenstein as having become a sovereign state in 1806.<ref name=":03" /> The two countries signed a correspondence treaty in 2009.<ref name=":03" />
Template:Flag	27 August 1992<ref name=":4">Template:Cite web</ref>	See France–Liechtenstein relations The two countries signed a tax information exchange agreement.<ref name=":02">Template:Cite web</ref>
Template:Flag	14 January 1992	See Germany–Liechtenstein relations Germany is accredited to Liechtenstein from its embassy in Bern, Switzerland and maintains an honorary consulate in Vaduz. Liechtenstein has an embassy in Berlin.
Template:Flag	Template:Dts<ref name=":32">Template:Cite web</ref>	See Liechtenstein–Russia relations
Template:Flag	13 August 1919	See Liechtenstein–Switzerland relations The two countries have been in a customs union since 1924.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Liechtenstein has an embassy in Bern. Switzerland is accredited to Liechtenstein from its Federal Department of Foreign Affairs in Bern and maintains an honorary consulate in Vaduz.
Template:Flag	6 February 1992<ref name="Europe" />	See Liechtenstein–Ukraine relations The two countries have a free trade agreement.<ref name="Europe3">Template:Cite web</ref>
Template:Flag	May 1992<ref name=":2">Template:Cite book</ref>	See Liechtenstein–United Kingdom relations The two countries have a free trade agreement.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Membership in international organizations

Liechtenstein is a member of the following international organizations:

• United Nations
• Council of Europe
• European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
• United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
• European Economic Area
• European Free Trade Association
• International Atomic Energy Agency
• International Criminal Court
• International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement
• International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
• Intelsat
• Interpol
• International Olympic Committee
• International Telecommunication Union
• Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
• Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
• Permanent Court of Arbitration
• United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
• Universal Postal Union
• World Confederation of Labour
• World Intellectual Property Organization
• World Trade Organization

Liechtenstein was never a member of the League of Nations. Its application to join that international organisation was refused in 1920 due to its small size.<ref>Participation of the Former Yugoslav States in the UN and multilateral Treaties Template:Webarchive</ref> While included in the Schengen Area, Liechtenstein is not a member of the European Union.

See also

• Liechtenstein–European Union relations
• List of ambassadors to Liechtenstein
• List of diplomatic missions in Liechtenstein
• List of diplomatic missions of Liechtenstein
• Visa requirements for Liechtenstein citizens