Alain Berset receives Patrice Talon, President of Benin, at the Lohn residence, with Doris Leuthard and Ignazio Cassis. It is a return visit: Doris Leuthard had travelled to Benin a year earlier. Benin has been a priority country for Swiss cooperation since 1981. The foreign ministers, Ignazio Cassis and Aurélien Agbénonci, sign two project agreements: […]
At the Pfauen of the Schauspielhaus Zürich, during the Swiss Theatre Encounter, Alain Berset presents the Swiss Theatre Awards. The Swiss Grand Award for Theatre / Hans Reinhart Ring goes to Theater Sgaramusch in Schaffhausen. The five awards go to the wildwuchs festival (Basel), Gabi Bernetta, Anne Bisang, Oscar Gómez Mata and Ruedi Häusermann. The […]
Alain Berset inaugurates the Swiss pavilion at the 16th Architecture Biennale. For the first time, the project was chosen by competition. “Svizzera 240: House Tour”, by Alessandro Bosshard, Li Tavor, Matthew van der Ploeg and Ani Vihervaara, takes visitors through an empty flat at disorienting scales; Pro Helvetia is the commissioner. The next day, the […]
The Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities (SIG/FSCI) and the Platform of Liberal Jews of Switzerland award their Dialogue Prize for the first time. The winners: Imam Muris Begovic and Rabbi Noam Hertig, from Zurich, and the Protestant deacon Maurice Gardiol and the cantor Eric Ackermann, from French-speaking Switzerland. Alain Berset speaks at the ceremony. He […]
Liviu Dragnea, President of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies, pays an official visit to Berne from 29 to 31 May, at the invitation of the President of the National Council, Dominique de Buman. Alain Berset meets him. The content of the meeting was not made public. Sources Radio Romania International, 31.05.2018 Observator, 23.05.2018
Alain Berset opens the 20th Swiss Economic Forum, the national gathering of SMEs. Digitalisation runs through his whole speech. He opens with humour: if robots govern one day, will they find their own “reset” button? Then he praises the “professionelle Unaufgeregtheit” of SMEs, which have weathered the strong franc. His appeal: a culture of failure. […]
Silver medallists at the World Championship in Copenhagen, the Swiss national ice hockey team is received at the Federal Palace, with the presidents of both chambers present. It is the first hockey team to receive this honour. Alain Berset congratulates the team on behalf of the Federal Council: an attacking, self-confident team that improved from […]
During Art Basel, at Messe Basel, Alain Berset attends the presentation of the Swiss Design Awards and of the Swiss Grand Award for Design, which goes to the fashion designer Cécile Feilchenfeldt, the secateurs manufacturer Felco and the graphic designer Rosmarie Tissi. Seventeen Swiss Design Awards are also presented. His speech opens with conspiracy theories: […]
Alain Berset travels to Russia for Switzerland’s first match at the World Cup. On arrival, he meets the national team and watches its training session. He then pays a courtesy visit to the Governor of the Rostov region, Vasily Golubev; they discuss the situation of this region bordering Ukraine. On 17 June, he lays flowers […]
At the Federal Palace, Alain Berset receives the credentials of five new ambassadors: Dieudonné Windéwauga Désiré Sougouri (Burkina Faso), Musa Alaa Hussain Musa (Iraq), Purevsuren Olkhonud Lundeg (Mongolia), Véronique Resaka (Madagascar) and Harald Aspelund (Iceland). Four of them are resident in Geneva. Sources Federal Council, press release of 19.06.2018
Slovenian President Borut Pahor is on a working visit to Geneva, where he addresses the 38th session of the Human Rights Council. He meets Alain Berset there. Sources STA, Slovenian Press Agency, 18.06.2018
Pope Francis comes to Geneva for the 70th anniversary of the World Council of Churches. At the airport, Alain Berset welcomes him at the foot of the aircraft, with Ignazio Cassis, the President of the National Council, Dominique de Buman, and the Geneva authorities; anthems and military honours. A one-to-one meeting in Spanish follows, then […]
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