The French presidential couple were received by the entire Federal Council on the Federal Square in Bern on Wednesday afternoon. Emmanuel Macron and President Alain Berset then walked down the line of honor to the sound of the flag march.

Macron, Berset and their two wives took plenty of time to greet the members of the Federal Council and numerous other people in front of the Federal Palace before marching across the Federal Square on the red carpet.

Around a thousand onlookers had gathered there behind the barriers to catch a glimpse of the prominent presidential couple, as a reporter from the Keystone-SDA news agency reported. Many of those present spoke French and some had brought French flags with them.

After the official reception, the two presidential couples took a long dip in the crowd accompanied by marching music from the army band and their security guards. They exchanged a few words with those present, shook numerous hands and posed for selfies. According to the Keystone SDA reporter, the atmosphere was very peaceful.

The Federal Palace itself was decorated with the coats of arms of all the cantons for the reception, while the EU flag flew alongside the Swiss and French flags on the Bundesplatz. Security was provided by numerous police officers, who could also be seen on the roof of the Federal Palace.

Macron on the second day of his state visit to Lausanne and Geneva

Emmanuel Macron will continue his two-day state visit to Switzerland on Thursday. The French President is expected to visit Lausanne together with President Alain Berset to talk about Europe at the university there and then about science at CERN near Geneva.

Following a visit to the Jean Monnet Foundation on the campus of the University of Lausanne, Macron will give a lecture on the current social challenges facing Europe alongside Berset in the Amphimax auditorium.

The Frenchman Jean Monnet is considered a pioneer of European unification and one of the fathers of today’s European Union. He established the foundation of the same name with his personal archive in 1978.

At the University of Lausanne, the French President will be received by the Vaud Minister of Education Frédéric Borloz, the Mayor of Lausanne Grégoire Junod, the Rector of the University Frédéric Herman and the President of swissuniversities Luciana Vaccaro.

Protests by students have already been announced on social networks. For security reasons, the site will therefore be cordoned off over a wide area.

At lunchtime, Macron and Berset will have lunch at the Beau-Rivage Palace Hotel on Lake Geneva, where they will also meet with business representatives. A special train will then take them to Geneva Airport. From there, they will travel to the CERN (Organization européenne pour la recherche nucléaire) research center in Meyrin, where they will be met by the President of the Geneva Government, Antonio Hodgers, among others.

A visit to the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world’s largest particle accelerator, and a discussion with young researchers from Switzerland and France are planned.

According to the official program, Macron and his wife Brigitte will leave Geneva for Paris on the presidential plane at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday.

©Keystone/SDA