Joint Statement by Former Heads of State and Government
New York | September 21, 2026
We, former heads of state and government from different regions of the world, are united in the belief that the global challenges we face today can only be overcome through international cooperation. Yet, the international order that enables such cooperation is fracturing. The rules on which it was built are being willfully set aside or ignored, narrow interests increasingly prevail over common purpose, and the result is deepening tension, conflict, inequality and mistrust.
Societies everywhere confront challenges that no country can solve alone: economic instability, humanitarian crises, climate change, pandemics, irregular migration, new and renewed conflicts, organized crime, and the profound implications of emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence. These realities require not less cooperation, but better cooperation: grounded in human dignity, the rule of law, and mutual respect. As the world changes, cooperation must also renew itself – honoring sovereignty, while recognizing interdependence, and delivering tangible benefits for people and communities.
Despite rising nationalism, populism, and isolationism, the demand for international cooperation remains strong across regions and political traditions. We believe that, if cooperation is to endure in a more fragmented and multipolar world, it must rest on a common foundation of principles capable of bridging differences and commanding broad support.
We therefore welcome the Principles of Cooperation initiative and endorse its purpose and ambition: to help rebuild trust, bridge differences and establish a stronger basis for international cooperation based on common principles.
We commit to lend our experience and support to this effort: contributing to its development and championing its call for renewed international cooperation in our countries, our communities and international forums.
At a time of accelerating geopolitical and economic challenges, we call on current leaders to seize this opportunity: to engage with and shape the initiative, build a framework for cooperation on this basis, and work to translate it into practical action. The choices made now will shape not only relations between states, but the security, prosperity and well-being of future generations.
Former Heads of State and Government
Bertie Ahern
Prime Minister of Ireland (1997–2008) ⁴
Esko Aho
Prime Minister of Finland (1991–1995) ¹
Nana Akufo-Addo
President of Ghana (2017–2025)
Carlos Alvarado
President of Costa Rica (2018–2022) ¹
Kenny Anthony
Prime Minister of Saint Lucia (1997–2006; 2011–2016) ²
Jacinda Ardern
Prime Minister of New Zealand (2017–2023)
Rosalía Arteaga Serrano
President of Ecuador (1997) ⁴
Michelle Bachelet
President of Chile (2006–2010; 2014–2018) & Club de Madrid Vice-President ¹˒³˒⁴
Jan Peter Balkenende
Prime Minister of The Netherlands (2002–2010) ¹
Joyce Banda
President of Malawi (2012–2014) ¹˒²˒⁴
José Manuel Barroso
Prime Minister of Portugal (2002–2004) ¹
Carl Bildt
Prime Minister of Sweden (1991–1994) ¹˒²
Valdis Birkavs
Prime Minister of Latvia (1993–1994) ¹
Kjell Magne Bondevik
Prime Minister of Norway (1997–2000; 2001–2005) ¹˒⁴
Gordon Brown
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (2007–2010) ¹˒⁴
Gro Harlem Brundtland
Prime Minister of Norway (1981; 1986–1989; 1990–1996) ¹˒⁵
Micheline Calmy-Rey
President of Switzerland (2007; 2011) ¹˒²˒⁴
Kim Campbell
Prime Minister of Canada (1993) ¹
Zuzana Čaputová
President of Slovakia (2019–2024) ¹
Aníbal Cavaco Silva
Prime Minister (1985–1995) and President (2006–2016) of Portugal ¹
Laura Chinchilla
President of Costa Rica (2010–2014) & Club de Madrid President ¹
Helen Clark
Prime Minister of New Zealand (1999–2008) ¹˒²˒³˒⁴˒⁵
Joe Clark
Prime Minister of Canada (1979–1980) ²
Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca
President of Malta (2014–2019) ¹˒⁴
Mirko Cvetković
Prime Minister of Serbia (2008–2012) ⁴
Cellou Dalein Diallo
Prime Minister of Guinea (2004–2006) ¹
Philip Dimitrov
Prime Minister of Bulgaria (1991–1992) ¹˒⁴
Vicente Fox
President of Mexico (2000–2006)
Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle
President of Chile (1994–2000) ¹
Chiril Gaburici
Prime Minister of Moldova (2015) ⁴
Natalia Gavrilița
Prime Minister of Moldova (2021–2023) ¹˒⁴
Paolo Gentiloni
Prime Minister of Italy (2016–2018) ¹˒⁴
Julia Gillard
Prime Minister of Australia (2010–2013) ¹
Lawrence Gonzi
Prime Minister of Malta (2004–2013) ²
Dalia Grybauskaitė
President of Lithuania (2009–2019) ¹˒²
Ameenah Gurib Fakim
President of Mauritius (2015–2018) ⁴
Alfred Gusenbauer
Chancellor of Austria (2007–2008) ¹˒⁴
Tarja Halonen
President of Finland (2000–2012) ¹˒³˒⁴
Seung-Soo Han
Prime Minister of South Korea (2008–2009) & Club de Madrid Vice-President ¹
Mladen Ivanić
Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina (2014–2018) ⁴
Katrín Jakobsdóttir
Prime Minister of Iceland (2017–2024)
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
President of Liberia (2006–2018) ¹˒²˒⁵
Mehdi Jomaa
Prime Minister of Tunisia (2014–2015) ¹˒⁴
Ivo Josipovic
President of Croatia (2010–2015) ¹˒⁴
Joseph Jouthe
Prime Minister of Haiti (2020–2021) ⁴
Jean-Claude Juncker
Prime Minister of Luxembourg (1995–2013) ¹
Mari Kiviniemi
Prime Minister of Finland (2010–2011) ¹˒⁴
Jadranka Kosor
Prime Minister of Croatia (2009–2011) ⁴
Milan Kučan
President of Slovenia (1991–2002) ¹
John Kufuor
President of Ghana (2001–2009) ¹˒²
Aleksander Kwaśniewski
President of Poland (1995–2005) ¹˒⁴
Luis Alberto Lacalle Herrera
President of Uruguay (1990–1995) ¹
Ricardo Lagos
President of Chile (2000–2006) ¹
Zlatko Lagumdzija
Prime Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina (2001–2002) ¹˒⁴
Ju-Ho Lee
Acting President of South Korea (May–June 2025)
Yves Leterme
Prime Minister of Belgium (2008, 2009–2011) ¹˒⁴
Doris Leuthard
President of the Swiss Confederation (2010; 2017) ¹
Stefan Löfven
Prime Minister of Sweden (2014–2021) ¹˒⁴
Moussa Mara
Prime Minister of Mali (2014–2015) ¹˒²˒⁴
Mokgweetsi Masisi
President of Botswana (2018–2024) ¹
Rexhep Meidani
President of Albania (1997–2002) ¹˒⁴
Carlos Mesa
President of Bolivia (2003–2005) ¹
Stjepan Mesić
President of Croatia (2000–2010) ⁴
Charles Michel
Prime Minister of Belgium (2014–2019) ¹˒⁴
James Michel
President of Seychelles (2004–2016) ¹
Olusegun Obasanjo
President of Nigeria (1976–1979; 1999–2007) ¹˒⁴
Djoomart Otorbaev
Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan (2014–2015) ⁴
Roza Otunbayeva
President of Kyrgyzstan (2010–2011) ¹
Anand Panyarachun
Prime Minister of Thailand (1991–1992) ¹
George Papandreou
Prime Minister of Greece (2009–2011) ¹˒⁴
P.J. Patterson
Prime Minister of Jamaica (1992–2006) ¹˒²
Kiril Petkov
Prime Minister of Bulgaria (2021–2022) ⁴
Rosen Plevneliev
President of Bulgaria (2012–2017) ⁴
Romano Prodi
Prime Minister of Italy (1996–1998; 2006–2008) ¹
Iveta Radicova
Prime Minister of Slovakia (2010–2012) ¹
Jean-Pierre Raffarin
Prime Minister of France (2002–2005) ¹˒²˒⁴
Abdur-Rauf Rawabdeh
Prime Minister of Jordan (1999–2000) ⁴
Mary Robinson
President of Ireland (1990–1997) ¹˒³˒⁵
Paolo Rondelli
Captain Regent of San Marino (2022) ⁴
Francisco Sagasti
President of Peru (2020–2021) ¹
Katerina Sakellaropoulou
President of Greece (2020–2025) ¹
Juan Manuel Santos
President of Colombia (2010–2018) ⁵
Petar Stoyanov
President of Bulgaria (1997–2002) ⁴
Hanna Suchocka
Prime Minister of Poland (1992–1993) ¹
Kevin Rudd
Prime Minister of Australia (2007–2010; 2013) ¹
Jigmi Yoser Thinley
Prime Minister of Bhutan (2008–2013) ¹
Helle Thorning-Schmidt
Prime Minister of Denmark (2011–2015) ¹˒²
Aminata Touré
Prime Minister of Senegal (2013–2014) ¹˒⁴
Elbegdorj Tsakhia
President (2009–2017) and Prime Minister of Mongolia (1998; 2004–2006) ¹˒²˒⁵
Danilo Türk
President of Slovenia (2007–2012) ¹
Cassam Uteem
President of Mauritius (1992–2002) ¹˒²˒⁴
Leo Varadkar
Prime Minister of Ireland (2017–2020; 2022–2024) ¹
Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga
President of Latvia (1999–2007) & NGIC Co-chair ¹˒²˒⁴
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
President of Indonesia (2004–2014) ¹
Muhammad Yunus
Chief Adviser of Bangladesh (2024–2026) ⁴
Valdis Zatlers
President of Latvia (2007–2011) ¹˒⁴
Ernesto Zedillo
President of Mexico (1994–2000) ¹˒⁵
Individual endorsements
Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser
President of the 66th UN General Assembly⁴
Farida Allaghi
Ambassador of Libya to the European Union (2015–2016)⁴
Dimitris Avramopoulos
European Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs & Citizenship (2014–2019)⁴
Irina Bokova
Director General UNESCO (2009–2017)³
María Eugenia Brizuela de Ávila
Minister of Foreign Affairs of El Salvador (1999–2004)³
Ditmir Bushati
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Albania (2013–2019)⁴
Julio Cobos
Vice President of Argentina (2007–2011)⁴
Benita Ferrero-Waldner
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Austria (2000–2004); European Commissioner (2004–2010)⁴
Arancha González
Foreign Minister of Spain (2020–2021)³
Hina Jilani
Member of The Elders, Advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and co-chair of the Taskforce on Justice⁵
Sigrid Kaag
Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands (2022–2024)³
Mats Karlsson
Vice President for External and UN Affairs, World Bank (1999–2002)⁴
Srgjan Kerim
President of the 62nd UN General Assembly⁴
Csaba Kőrösi
President of the 77th UN General Assembly⁴
Graça Machel
Co-founder and Deputy Chair of The Elders⁵
Susana Malcorra
Foreign Minister of Argentina (2015–2017)³
Federica Mogherini
Vice President, European Commission (2014–2019)³
Milica Pejanović-Đurišić
Minister of Defense of Montenegro (2012–2016)⁴
Isabel de Saint Malo
Vice President and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Panama (2014–2019)³
Ismail Serageldin
Co-Chair, NGIC; Vice-President, World Bank (1992–2000)⁴
Maimunah Mohd Sharif
Executive Director, UN-Habitat (2018–2024)⁴
Eka Tkeshelashvili
Deputy Prime Minister of Georgia (2010–2012)⁴
Organizational Endorsements
¹ Member of Club de Madrid
² Member of Global Leadership Foundation
³ Member of GWL Voices
⁴ Member of Nizami Ganjavi International Center (NGIC)
⁵ Member of The Elders
Show your support
Former heads of state and government, and other eminent leaders, who would like to support the Call to Action, are invited to get in touch with the Principles of Cooperation initiative at principlesinitiative@gp-digital.org.