Viola Amherd says “Bye!” – Viola Amherd: six years as a Federal Councilor in pictures – News

At the end of the media conference on the reorganization of compulsory service in the army and civil defense, Viola Amherd dropped the bombshell: The Federal Councilor will be resigning from her position at the end of March.

Her career as a Federal Councilor began on December 5, 2018. On that day, the Valais woman won the election as Doris Leuthard’s successor. She was sworn in together with Karin Keller-Sutter, who in turn succeeded Johann Schneider-Ammann.

Right from the start, women in the army were important to Amherd. At the press conference where she announced her resignation, she said that she had been very committed to women in the army. And added with a smile: “Since I took office, I have doubled the proportion of women – from 0.7 to 1.6 percent.”

One of these women – the first and only female pilot in the Swiss Air Force, Fanny Chollet – stood by Amherd in the struggle for new fighter jets in 2022. This was not well received everywhere; there was talk of a “transparent trick” to get more women to support the proposal. Apparently it didn’t do any harm: the Federal Council and parliamentary majority cleared the way for the procurement of the fighter jets.

The Defense Minister also repeatedly visited the troops. In 2023, for example, she inspected the work of the Swiss Army’s medical soldiers on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos.

Amherd has not stopped supporting women in sport either. On December 1, 2023, she attended the game between Switzerland and Sweden at the Swissporarena in Lucerne. She said at the press conference about her resignation that she now has enough time to watch the Swiss national team’s games at the European Championships. The European Championships will take place from July 2nd to 27th, 2025 at eight locations in Switzerland.

In addition to football, Amherd is also interested in skiing. Her confidant Brigitte Hauser-Süess recently said because of her upcoming retirement: “Viola Amherd can ski incredibly well.” Amherd also follows the achievements of the Swiss ski cracks: in 2024, for example, she cheered with the Swiss skiers in Wengen and celebrated Marco Odermatt’s downhill victory.

Another milestone for the Federal Councilor was likely to be the holding of the Bürgenstock Conference on June 15, 2024. Together with Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky, she welcomed representatives from almost 90 countries to the mountain in central Switzerland. They discussed how to achieve lasting peace in Ukraine based on international law.

In 2024, Viola Amherd took over the office of Federal President. In this role, she visited her home canton in July, which was hit hard by storms. In Valais, there were various debris flows due to heavy rain.

Last October, the Federal President visited the OLMA trade fair in Eastern Switzerland. The “Säuli races” are an integral part of the agricultural fair’s program.

On March 18, 2024, the Federal President traveled to Brussels. The visit marks the official start of negotiations between Switzerland and the EU.

On January 15th, Viola Amherd announced her resignation. She will resign from her position at the end of March. The Valais woman has no wishes regarding her successor. “I’m perfectly happy,” she said.