At the end of December, Federal Councilor Viola Amherd will end her mandate as President of the Confederation. Review of a year 2024 marked by the war in Ukraine and relations with the European Union.
Bürgenstock Summit for Peace in Ukraine
Ukraine has once again marked the Swiss political agenda, in this year chaired by Federal Councilor Viola Amherd. Last June, Switzerland hosted the Bürgenstock summit (NW), where nearly a hundred heads of state, ministers and international organizations were represented.
This conference, which focused on the main themes of nuclear security, food security as well as humanitarian aspects, was one of the largest extraordinary diplomatic meetings in recent decades and reinforced Switzerland’s visibility on the international scene.
>> Watch the follow-up and highlights of the Bürgenstock summit: With the peace summit, President Zelensky wants an international course against Moscow et Highlights from the Ukraine Peace Summit weekend
The summit reached a final declaration supported by 84 countries and institutions, marking the long-term desire to dialogue “with all parties”. No member of the BRICS, countries close to Moscow – largely absent from this meeting – is among them.
“For the first time, we spoke at the highest level about peace in Ukraine,” rejoiced the President of the Confederation Viola Amherd, assuring that Switzerland would continue to commit to peace in Ukraine.
The outcome of the Swiss-EU negotiations
Less spectacular than the Bürgenstock summit, but nevertheless very important, Viola Amherd’s role in Switzerland’s negotiations with the European Union is perhaps the only truly historic moment of her presidential year.
It was in fact she who announced, on December 20 alongside the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, that after a decade of waiting, the negotiations between Bern and Brussels were finally concluded. The President of the Confederation considered that the outcome of these discussions was a “milestone for the stabilization and development of relations between Switzerland and the EU” and “a common step for the bilateral path”.
>> Review the topic from 7:30 p.m.:
>> Find on live monitoring of Switzerland-EU announcements: Satisfaction, caution or rejection, reactions are pouring in after the announcement of future Switzerland-EU agreements
This step paved the way for the formal conclusion of agreements planned for next spring, which will be submitted to Parliament. A personal victory for Viola Amherd, more Europhile than the Federal Council average and who since her election to the presidency has been very involved in the issue.
>> Read also: The Federal Council wants to divide the package of agreements with the EU into several tranches
The daily life of a President of the Confederation
Different missions representing a President of the Confederation, some lighter than others, punctuated the rest of the year 2024 for Viola Amherd.
The Valaisanne thus went to the field during the floods which affected its canton, as well as Ticino and Graubünden. She was also present in Paris to support Swiss athletes at the Olympic Games, congratulated Donald Trump on his re-election to the American presidency, delivered the traditional August 1st speech in the Aargau town of Möriken-Wildegg, and even carried the famous piglet from the Olma agricultural fair in St. Gallen.
>> Viola Amherd’s August 1st speech:
>> Read also: President of the Confederation Viola Amherd in Paris for the Olympic Games
Troubles and affairs
Some problems did not fail to mark this presidential year for the head of the army, such as the affair of the hole in the finances of the army, the recurring problems of the arms company RUAGor even the controversy over the salary of a close collaborator.
Asked about her political future, while several media have mentioned a possible resignation from the Federal Council, Viola Amherd jumps in: “You shouldn’t ask me every week,” she said during an interview in the 7:30 p.m. in July. And since this summer, Valaisanne has not said more about her political future.
The presidency of the Confederation will be assumed in 2025 by Federal Councilor Karin Keller-Sutter, in charge of Finance.
>> Watch the interview with Viola Amherd in the 7:30 p.m. in July:
>> Lire : Viola Amherd: “I don’t have time to think about a possible withdrawal”
TV subject: Pierre Nebel
Adaptation website: Katharina Kubicek
