At the Federal Palace, Alain Berset receives seven new ambassadors in audience. They present the letters accrediting them to the Federal Council. They represent South Africa (Sankie Mthembi-Mahanyele), Thailand (Chakri Srichawana), New Zealand (Rupert Thomas Holborow, resident in Berlin), Guatemala (Arturo Romeo Duarte Ortiz), Indonesia (Muliaman Dharmansyah Hadad), the Philippines (Denis Yap Lepatan) and the […]
Alain Berset’s first visit to Japan. On 12 April, Shinzo Abe welcomes him with military honours at the Kantei. Their talks cover the update of the 2009 free trade agreement, research, Japan’s G20 presidency in 2019, ASEM, the Korean peninsula and the Tokyo 2020 Games. Before the press, Alain Berset says Switzerland is ready to […]
Alain Berset welcomes Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Elke Büdenbender at Zurich Airport; a special train takes them to Kehrsatz, then to Berne, where the Federal Council in corpore receives them with military honours. Talks at the Bernerhof: bilateral trade (nearly 100 billion francs in 2017), Zurich Airport, the institutional agreement with the EU, migration, Iran, Korea. […]
The Global Leadership Foundation brings together former heads of state and government who advise serving leaders discreetly. It holds its annual meeting in Berne, where it has its seat. It is its sixth meeting in Switzerland, the first in the capital. Alain Berset addresses its members. He quotes Fletcher Knebel: “Statesmanship is the art of […]
The Europa Forum Luzern holds its public evening at the KKL under the title “Schweiz-EU am Scheideweg?”. Alain Berset gives the opening speech; a debate follows, moderated by Sebastian Ramspeck (SRF), with Michael Matthiessen, EU Ambassador to Switzerland, MEP Andreas Schwab, National Councillor Elisabeth Schneider-Schneiter, Markus Somm and Thomas Kirchner. The President starts from the […]
Alain Berset leads the Federal Council delegation at the Von Wattenwyl talks, with Ueli Maurer and Federal Chancellor Walter Thurnherr. Facing them: the party and parliamentary group leaders of the CVP, FDP, SP and SVP. First topic: cybersecurity. On 18 April, the Federal Council adopted the National Strategy for the Protection of Switzerland against Cyber […]
For 5 May, the Council of Europe’s Europe Day, the President of the Swiss Confederation publishes a written message. He recalls the founding of the organisation in 1949, Switzerland’s accession in 1963 and the place of the European Convention on Human Rights, “a major pillar of the European legal system”. The text does not hide […]
A day of meetings in Geneva. At the Palais des Nations, Michael Møller, Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, receives Alain Berset. A visit to the renovation site of the Palais (Strategic Heritage Plan) and to the Council Chamber, where the Conference on Disarmament meets, then talks. Next come a meeting with Filippo […]
Alain Berset spends the day at the Cannes Film Festival. He visits the Marché du Film and the Village International, where the City of Cannes welcomes him at the Swiss pavilion. He stops at the Mexican stand: Switzerland and Mexico have just ratified a film co-production agreement. He has lunch with Swiss film professionals, among […]
In 2018, Latvia celebrates the centenary of its independence. On 14 May, President Raimonds Vējonis welcomes Alain Berset with honours at Riga Castle. The talks cover the economy, where potential remains untapped, vocational training and research: more than 40 joint projects in “Horizon 2020”. Alain Berset sets out the state of negotiations with the EU […]
Alain Berset receives Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, in Berne. The Jordanian diplomat has announced that he will not seek a second term; his mandate ends on 31 August 2018.
In Geneva, Alain Berset opens the 71st World Health Assembly, the first under Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus as Director-General. The WHO is 70 years old. His speech traces the history of global health, from the first International Sanitary Conference in 1851 to the Spanish flu. He also names the failures: in the face of Ebola in […]
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