Didier Burkhalter (born April 17, 1960) is a Swiss politician. He was born in Neuchâtel, Switzerland. Burkhalter is a member of FDP.The Liberals. He was elected as a member of the Swiss Federal Council on 16 September 2009. He succeeded Pascal Couchepin on 1 November 2009 when he became head of the Federal Department of Home Affairs (the Swiss interior minister). Since 1 January 2012, he serves as head of the Department of Foreign Affairs. In 2014, he was President of the Swiss Confederation. He served as Chairman-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in 2014. He left the Federal Council on 31 October 2017 (replaced by Ignazio Cassis).