Federal government pays 80 percent of security costs for Ukraine conference
Published: Friday, Jun 7th 2024, 13:20
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The federal government is helping the canton of Nidwalden to cover the millions in security costs for the Ukraine conference. It will cover 80 percent of the costs of the security measures incurred by Nidwalden, as decided by the Federal Council on Friday.
The Swiss government has classified the two-day conference of dozens of heads of state and government on the Bürgenstock, which begins in a week's time, as an "extraordinary event". Top politicians such as US Vice President Kamala Harris, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and French President Emmanuel Macron will be attending.
The conference is taking place against a backdrop of strong international tensions. The security presence is therefore immense. Hundreds of police officers and up to 4000 members of the army are deployed. Nidwalden, which has never before been responsible for a security presence on this scale, will be supported by police corps from other cantons, the federal police, the Department of Defense, the border police and the intelligence service, among others.
The federal government recently estimated a cost ceiling of 10 to 15 million Swiss francs for the event, 10 million of which was for internal security.
The meeting on June 15 and 16 on the Bürgenstock on Lake Lucerne is intended to provide an impetus for a peace process in the war in Ukraine started by Russia. Russia has not been invited. So far, at least 80 countries have confirmed their participation in the peace conference. The final list of participants is to be published at the beginning of next week.
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