Police and army prepare for challenging WEF 2024
Published: Friday, Jan 12th 2024, 15:20
Updated At: Friday, Jan 12th 2024, 15:20
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The security policy environment and the threat situation require police and army personnel to be deployed more extensively at the World Economic Forum (WEF) than a year ago. High-ranking visitors and an upstream conference further intensify this effect.
With the Ukraine conference on Sunday before the actual start of the WEF on Monday, the security arrangements already have to be in place the day before, said overall head of operations Walter Schlegel to the media in Davos GR on Friday. 500 participants from 90 nations have been invited to the conference.
The construction work therefore had to start earlier. As early as 2 January, the security forces began erecting a total of 52 kilometers of protective fencing around Davos.
The checkpoints on the way to Davos will now be in operation from Sunday. The airspace was already closed on Friday. Additional measures are necessary this year due to the large number of people in need of protection at the WEF. Among others, Presidents Volodymyr Selensky from Ukraine, Emmanuel Macron from France and Isaac Herzog from Israel are coming to Davos.
The police are supported by around 5000 members of the army. Around half of these forces are based in Davos. The rest are spread throughout Switzerland. They include cyber specialists, snipers, dog handlers and paramedics. According to the federal government, the additional costs for security amount to around CHF 9 million. The WEF Foundation, the federal government, the canton of Graubünden and the municipalities of Davos and Klosters are covering the costs.
Threat situation constantly on the rise
Looking back, there were two events in world history that had a major impact on security measures at the WEF, said Schlegel in an interview with the Keystone-SDA news agency. One was the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington on September 11, 2001. Secondly, the attacks on the satirical magazine "Charlie Hebdo" in France in 2015.
But the threat of attacks with vehicles or explosive devices also increased. Over the years, the WEF had to be increasingly cordoned off, for example with additional large concrete elements instead of just metal fences.
This is Schlegel's 12th WEF in his role as police commander and therefore overall head of operations. The security measures have been constantly adapted since his first time in 2012.
©Keystone/SDA
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