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4th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Council of Europe
For the fourth time in 74 years, the heads of state and government of the Council of Europe’s 46 member states meet, in Reykjavik, at the Harpa. Alain Berset leads the Swiss delegation. The summit responds to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine: it creates a register of damage caused by Russia, adopts a declaration on Ukrainian children and the “Reykjavik Principles for Democracy”.
Alain Berset signs a declaration of intent for the register of damage on the spot; the Federal Council decides on Switzerland’s accession on 30 August 2023. He defends Swiss priorities: political support for the system of the European Convention on Human Rights, Council of Europe expertise on climate and artificial intelligence, closer links with the Geneva organisations. State Secretary Livia Leu represents Switzerland on the second day.
Before the summit, he holds talks with Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir, mainly on climate and cooperation within EFTA. At Hellisheiði, he visits two carbon capture and storage projects that link the two countries: the Orca plant of the Swiss company Climeworks and ETH Zurich’s DemoUpCarma project, which ships CO2 from a Swiss wastewater treatment plant for storage underground in Iceland. The Confederation funds about 50% of DemoUpCarma.
Tuesday 16 May 2023 — Hellisheiði and Reykjavik
- Visit to the Carbfix / DemoUpCarma injection site and Climeworks’ Orca plant
- Meeting with Katrín Jakobsdóttir, Prime Minister of Iceland
- Welcome of the heads of state and government at the Harpa by the Prime Minister and Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić
- Opening session of the summit “United around our values”, family photo
- Co-chairing, with Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou, of the round table “Safeguarding democracy in difficult times”
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