The most important speeches at the WEF at a glance
Published: Friday, Jan 19th 2024, 15:40
Zurück zu Live Feed
The wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, dealing with artificial intelligence (AI), climate change, economic growth and the fight against misinformation were on the minds of the high-profile speakers at this year's WEF.
Who said what at the elite meeting:
SELENSKYJ: The undoubtedly most important guest at this year's WEF, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Selenskyj, spoke at the Davos Congress Center on Tuesday and warned of a possible "freeze" of the Russian war against his country. "Every frozen conflict will flare up again at some point", said the head of state at the WEF. Russian President Vladimir Putin had no interest in a peaceful solution. He is a "predator who is not satisfied with frozen products", said Selensky. Following Zelensky's visit, the Russian group "No Name" carried out a cyber attack on the Federal Administration.
AMHERD: Selensky met with federal councillors in Bern on Monday. President Viola Amherd promised to organize a high-level peace summit for Ukraine. Work on this had already begun, Amherd said in Davos on Thursday. The date of the summit, which according to a source from the Federal Administration is to take place in Geneva, is still unclear. Amherd said that she had received a lot of praise for Switzerland's good offices at her many meetings on the fringes of the WEF. French President Emmanuel Macron also told the Keystone-SDA news agency with regard to the peace summit: "This is one of the useful initiatives."
MACRON: The French head of state said in a speech on Tuesday evening: "We must not let Russia win". He announced that he would be traveling to Ukraine in February and that France intends to deliver around 40 missiles and several hundred bombs to Kiev. He also called for increased European investment in future technologies in order to keep pace with the USA and China. "Europe must develop an investment strategy", said Macron in Davos on Wednesday. More money must flow into innovation and industrial development, for example in artificial intelligence, environmentally friendly companies and semiconductor technology. Europe must be sovereign in key technologies.
LI QIANG: China's Prime Minister Li Qiang announced in Davos on Tuesday that his country wants to open up further and thus attract foreign investment. According to Li, China's economy grew by around 5.2 percent last year. By 2023, the economy of the country with a population of around 1.4 billion will have recovered. On Monday, the head of government met with President Amherd and Economics Minister Guy Parmelin in Bern. A declaration was signed on the free trade agreement, which has been in place since 2014. It is to be modernized. Li's visit was also important for the West with regard to the war in Ukraine. The Western states hoped to use Beijing as an ally of Russia to exert influence on Moscow. However, there was no meeting with Zelensky, wrote the NZZ.
VON DER LEYEN: EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called for continued support for Ukraine at the WEF. In a speech in Davos on Tuesday, she said that developments to date showed that Ukraine could survive in this war. However, its resistance must be further strengthened to achieve this. "Ukraine needs predictability in terms of financing throughout 2024 and beyond," said von der Leyen against the backdrop of outstanding commitments. It also needs continuous arms deliveries. Von der Leyen saw the course of the conflict to date as proof that Russian President Putin has so far failed to achieve his strategic goals in Ukraine.
HERZOG: Israeli President Isaac Herzog's speech on the Middle East conflict was also eagerly awaited. He said at the Davos Congress on Thursday: "The Israelis have lost their trust in the peace processes because they could see that terror is being glorified by our neighbors." At present, there is little willingness in Israel to consider a peace agreement. On Tuesday, the Bern cantonal police received complaints against Herzog. According to information from Keystone-SDA, a group called "Legal Action Against Crimes Against Humanity" is behind this. They wrote: "We hope that a criminal investigation will be opened; such an investigation could take place in parallel with the proceedings before the International Court of Justice."
BLINKEN: The Middle East conflict was also on the mind of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. At the WEF, he once again called for a two-state solution. Many Arab and Muslim countries have recently changed their attitude towards Israel and are now interested in stable relations, he said on Wednesday. However, a lasting solution for the region includes the vision of a Palestinian state. Otherwise, Israel would not have any real security.
MILEI: Argentina's ultra-liberal President Javier Milei praised the free market economy and capitalism at the WEF. "Capitalism is the only system that can end poverty in the world," said the head of state on Wednesday. "Socialism always leads to economic, social and cultural decline." He had previously caused a stir with his arrival. Unlike other heads of state, he took a scheduled flight to Switzerland. "We were actually able to save around 392,000 US dollars by choosing this mode of travel," wrote Milei in a post on the X platform (formerly Twitter).
ALTMAN: The chief executive of ChatGPT creator OpenAI, Sam Altman, has expressed understanding for the fears many people have around artificial intelligence (AI). "This technology is clearly very powerful and we don't know for sure exactly what's going to happen," Altman said on Thursday. "I think it would be very bad if people weren't careful and didn't know what was at stake. So I think it's good that people are nervous." Artificial intelligence and its challenges were an important topic at this year's WEF in various panels, speeches and interviews.
ZWINGGI: In an interview with Keystone-SDA, WEF Director Alois Zwinggi underlined the dangers of misinformation, including that generated by AI. Deceptively real videos showing speeches on the podium of the World Economic Forum (WEF) that never took place and AI-generated images were disseminated via the WEF. False information is particularly problematic this year because around 4.2 billion people will be voting in 2024. The European elections and the election of a new US president are on the political agenda. Zwinggi said that the WEF was therefore very concerned with how democratic processes could be ensured. He also announced an initiative with media companies dedicated to the responsible use of AI.
FEDERAL COUNCILLORS: Six of the seven Federal Councillors also attended the WEF. In over 60 bilateral meetings, they discussed the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East and devoted themselves to the EU dossier. This is now progressing "very well", said Amherd on Thursday. Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis announced that he wanted to win over China and India for the Ukraine peace summit. Following a meeting with Argentinian Foreign Minister Diana Mondino, Parmelin held out the prospect that the free trade agreement between the EFTA states - including Switzerland - and South America's Mercosur trading bloc, which has been planned for years, could still be concluded in 2024.
©Keystone/SDA
German 
English 
French 
Spanish 
Arabic