The security environment and the threat situation require police and army members at the World Economic Forum (WEF) to carry out more extensive operations than a year ago. High-ranking visitors and a special pre-WEF session on Ukraine create additional demands.
This content was published on
2 minutes
Keystone-SDA
Русский
ru
Президенты Швейцарии и Украины провели телефонный разговор
With the conference on Ukraine the Sunday before the actual WEF annual meeting starts on Monday, security arrangements must be in place a day in advance, said security operations manager Walter Schlegel in a media briefing in Davos on Friday.
The checkpoints on the way to Davos will therefore be in operation from Sunday. The airspace was closed on Friday. The large number of people in need of special protection makes additional measures necessary this year. Among others, Presidents Volodymyr Zelensky from Ukraine, Emmanuel Macron from France and Isaac Herzog from Israel are coming to Davos.
A total of 52 kilometers of protective fencing was built around Davos. The police are supported by around 5,000 army personnel. According to the federal government, the additional costs for security amount to around CHF9 million ($10.6 million).
Swiss-Ukraine ties
Also on Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky congratulated the new Swiss President Viola Amherd, who took over the rotating post on January 1, and wished her well in her tenure. This was according to post on X by Zelenksy who noted that the two had spoken earlier in the day.
He expressed appreciation for Switzerland’s support and during the phone conversation, emphasised the growing dynamics of the bilateral dialogue between Ukraine and Switzerland, the short message continued.
Zelensky also thanked Switzerland for organising the Ukraine conference planned before the WEF meeting. “Following the Lugano conference, this meeting will be Switzerland’s second significant international event in support of Ukraine,” Zelensky wrote.
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. You can find them here.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
External Content
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Almost finished… We need to confirm your email address. To complete the subscription process, please click the link in the email we just sent you.
Young undocumented migrants gain easier access to vocational training
This content was published on
Rejected asylum-seekers and young undocumented migrants in Switzerland will have easier access to basic vocational training from June 1.
Migration: Swiss government wants to shorten reunification period for families
This content was published on
Family members of people temporarily admitted to Switzerland should in future be able to join them after two years instead of three.
This content was published on
2023 was a record year for the Rhaetian Railway in several respects. Never before has the narrow-gauge railway in Graubünden, eastern Switzerland, transported so many passengers and cars.
Swiss CFOs much more optimistic despite global uncertainty
This content was published on
The main concerns of business leaders in Switzerland are geopolitical uncertainty and the important trading partners Germany and China.
Record organ donation in Switzerland despite high rejection rates
This content was published on
More organ donations were recorded in Switzerland in 2023 than ever before. This was despite a high rejection rate of 58% by surviving relatives.
This content was published on
Seven years after the death of record-breaking Swiss mountain climber Ueli Steck, his estate is going to the Alpine Museum of Switzerland in Bern.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.