Rachel Salzmann becomes the new Vice-Chancellor
Published: Friday, Mar 8th 2024, 12:50
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The Federal Council has elected Rachel Salzmann as the new Vice-Chancellor. The 42-year-old will take up her position on July 1, 2024. She currently works for CSS Krankenversicherung.
Salzmann was proposed for election by the new Federal Chancellor Viktor Rossi. She holds a degree in history, media and communication sciences and an Executive Master of Business Administration with a specialization in public management from the Bern University of Applied Sciences, as the Federal Council wrote on Friday.
Head of the Federal Council division
Salzmann will take over the management of the Federal Council division on July 1, 2024. In coordination with Federal Chancellor Rossi and Vice-Chancellor and Federal Council Spokesperson André Simonazzi, she will be responsible for all tasks relating to the preparation, implementation and follow-up of Federal Council meetings.
Salzmann will also manage seven organizational units with around 130 employees. These are responsible for the Federal Chancellery's language services, the publication of official publications and legal decrees, among other things.
Salzmann lives with her family in Bern and is a citizen of Naters VS. From 2012 to 2018, she worked in the Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (DETEC), the last four years as a personal assistant to Federal Councillor Doris Leuthard, who resigned at the end of 2018. She is a member of the Center Party.
She moved from the Federal Administration to Credit Suisse Energy Infrastructure Partners AG as Head of Public and Regulatory Affairs. Since March 1, 2020, Salzmann has been responsible for managing the CEO staff at CSS Krankenversicherung.
Replacement for De Bernardi
The new Vice-Chancellor will replace the interim Vice-Chancellor Jörg De Bernardi next summer. He will move to the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, where he will head the "Policy Planning" division in the State Secretariat.
De Bernardi has been interim Vice-Chancellor since the election of Vice-Chancellor Viktor Rossi as the new Federal Chancellor in December 2023. Rossi was elected by Parliament to succeed Walter Thurnherr (center), who had resigned. He had previously been Vice-Chancellor for almost five years.
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