Bern and Prague call for European cohesion during state visits

Czech President Petr Pavel’s two-day state visit to Switzerland ended with a plea for cooperation in Europe. Wednesday afternoon, the entire Federal Council welcomed the guest with military honors on the Bundesplatz.

After official talks in the evening, the Swiss Federal President Viola Amherd emphasized the importance of European cooperation for the media.

“We live in uncertain times; the world has become more dispersed, more complex and more dangerous.” Since that will not change in the future, it is more important to strengthen cohesion in Europe, said Amherd.

Cooperation in the field of security

According to Amherd, this includes cooperation in the area of ​​security. “We have threats that don’t stop at national borders.” Therefore, cooperation with NATO must be strengthened – without giving up neutrality.

At the same time, every European country must work to strengthen its own military defense capability. In recent decades, too little has been invested in security. “Countries in Europe must do more.”

Czech President Pavel called the US and European recovery plan for Ukraine modeled on the Marshall Plan. This should provide insight to people in the war-torn country. The system for Ukrainian refugees abroad should ensure that these people are not lost to their country.

Pavel wanted cooperation between countries with democratic structures. The conflict line no longer runs between East and West, but between democratic and autocratic regimes of various forms, he said. It is important to stand up to these states, which in turn support each other.

Pavel started his journey on Tuesday. He and Federal President Amherd opened the Swiss-Czech economic forum at the ETH Zurich. They then visited the Spiez laboratory and the Federal Office for Armaments (Armasuisse) in Thun.

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