Urs Schmid is a career diplomat. Prior to taking up his current position in Belgrade, he served as ambassador of Switzerland to the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Republic of Tajikistan, resident in Nur-Sultan from August 2016 to August 2020. He previously served as the Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the Conference on Disarmament and as Deputy Head of Mission of the Permanent Representation of Switzerland to the Office of the United Nations and other International Organisations in Geneva, from September 2012 to July 2016.
His former duties have included the positions of Deputy Head of Mission of the Embassy of Switzerland in London (2009-2012) and Budapest (2005-2009), prior to which he headed the International Security Section at the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs in Berne (2001-2005). He contributed for more than eight years to the setting up of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague.
Ambassador Schmid holds an M.A. in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Zurich and is a married father of three children.
