President of the Swiss Confederation Didier Burkhalter to hold discussions in Berlin and Paris
Bern, 17.02.2014 - On 18 February the President of the Swiss Confederation Didier Burkhalter will meet the German Chancellor Angela Merkel and foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Berlin. The main focus of their discussions will be bilateral issues between Switzerland and Germany, the implementation of the new constitutional provisions on immigration and Switzerland’s chair of the OSCE. Following Berlin, President Burkhalter will travel on to Paris for an evening meeting with French foreign minister Laurent Fabius in order to brief him on how the Federal Council intends to act following the vote on the mass immigration initiative.
President Burkhalter is travelling to Berlin on Tuesday to hold talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier. The meeting, which has been planned for some time, will provide an opportunity to discuss the result of the initiative on mass immigration and to present the decisions made by the Federal Council on Wednesday regarding the implementation of the new constitutional article on immigration. Bilateral issues and Switzerland’s chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) will also be at the centre of the talks.
Switzerland and Germany enjoy close ties in many areas. For example, Germany is by far Switzerland’s most important trading partner. Trade between the two countries reached a volume of over CHF 90 billion in 2013. Switzerland does as much trade with the German state of Baden-Württemberg alone as it does with the USA. After China and the USA, Switzerland is Germany’s largest trading partner outside of the EU.
Following his visit to Berlin Didier Burkhalter will travel on to Paris, where he will meet the French foreign minister Laurent Fabius on the same evening. President Burkhalter will inform Mr Fabius about the outcome of the vote on the mass immigration initiative and the Federal Council’s first steps towards implementing the new article in the Constitution.
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