Bern and Prague insist on European cohesion during state visit
Published: Wednesday, Nov 6th 2024, 19:20
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Czech President Petr Pavel's two-day state visit to Switzerland ended with a plea for cooperation in Europe. On Wednesday afternoon, the entire Federal Council received the guest with military honors on the Bundesplatz.
The President of the Swiss Confederation, Viola Amherd, emphasized the importance of European cooperation to the media following official talks in the evening.
"We are living in uncertain times, the world has become more diffuse, more complex and more dangerous." Because this will not change in the foreseeable future, it is all the more important to strengthen cohesion in Europe, said Amherd.
Cooperation in the security sector
According to Amherd, this includes cooperation in the area of security. "We have threats that do not stop at national borders." Cooperation with NATO must therefore be intensified - without giving up neutrality.
At the same time, every European country must work towards strengthening the defense capabilities of its own army. Too little has been invested in security in recent decades. "The countries in Europe must do more."
Czech President Pavel called for a US and European reconstruction plan for Ukraine along the lines of the Marshall Plan. This should give the people in the war-torn country prospects. The system for Ukrainian refugees abroad should ensure that these people are not lost to their country.
Pavel insisted on cooperation between countries with democratic structures. The line of confrontation no longer ran between East and West, but between democratic and autocratic regimes of various types, he said. These states, which in turn supported each other, had to be confronted.
Pavel began his visit on Tuesday. He and President Amherd jointly opened a Swiss-Czech economic forum at ETH Zurich. They then visited the Spiez Laboratory and the Federal Armaments Office (Armasuisse) in Thun.
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