Swiss army starts security deployment ahead of World Economic Forum
The Swiss army has begun deploying in Davos, south-eastern Switzerland, to support security for the upcoming World Economic Forum (WEF) on January 16-20.
Ten days before the 2023 edition, the military has begun work on security installations, the defence ministry said on Friday. Like every year, the military is supporting the civilian authorities in canton Graubünden in preparation for the major event.
It notes that the Swiss parliament renewed approval for 5,000 members of the Swiss army to guarantee the security of some 3,000 WEF participants for the years 2022 to 2024. The high-level event attracts wealthy, high-profile business and political figures from around the world, along with academics and other leaders of society. Last year’s edition was attended by the likes of US climate envoy John Kerry, Microsoft mogul Bill Gates and Rwandan President Paul Kagame. Donald Trump also came when he was US President.
Current US President Joe Biden will not attend this year’s event, the US embassy in Bern said on Friday. But Washington is sending a high-level delegation including Kerry.
There may also be some protests against the event, as in the past. The town of Davos has received two requests for permission to demonstrate against the WEF, town clerk Michael Straub told Swiss news agency Keystone-SDA on Friday. One is from the Socialist Youth of Graubünden, which intends to demonstrate on January 15 in the town hall square. The other is from the “Strike WEF” collective, which is organizing a march against capitalism, the climate crisis and global inequality.
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