Amherd and von der Leyen discuss ongoing Swiss-EU negotiations

Amherd (left) talked to von der Leyen about the ongoing negotiations. Keystone-SDA

Swiss President Viola Amherd and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen have met and talked about the ongoing negotiations between Bern and Brussels.

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Amherd also used the meeting on the sidelines of the European Political Community (EPC) summit in Budapest on Thursday for further bilateral talks.

“The Commission is still interested in concluding the talks by the end of this year,” Amherd told Swiss journalists in Budapest. Switzerland is interested in moving forward, but the result must also be right, she said.

+ Switzerland and EU want to negotiate, but optimism is limited

“We did not negotiate, the chief negotiators do that,” Amherd, who holds the rotating Swiss presidency this year, She did not elaborate on the three contentious issues of the free movement of people, the cohesion payment and the electricity agreement. She merely said that the government had discussed a mechanism for cohesion payments on Wednesday, but without any concrete figures.

+Switzerland and the EU are still at odds over cohesion payments

Further bilateral meetings

Amherd met NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte for a “handshake”, as she put it. She had already met him in the summer on the Bürgenstock in Switzerland and in Blenheim, UK, at the previous summit of the EPC. It is always good to maintain such contacts, she said.

Amherd also spoke to the president of Cyprus. They discussed the conflict on the island. In this context, Switzerland was prepared to offer to host talks, Amherd said. In return, the Cypriot president said that Cyprus would support Switzerland in Europe when it takes over the rotating presidency of the EU in 2026.

+ The Swiss are deeply divided over relations with the EU

Cyprus has been divided for 50 years. In the south of the island is the Republic of Cyprus, which is a member of the EU, and in the north is Northern Cyprus, which is recognised only by Turkey.

A further meeting also took place with the president of Kosovo, according to Amherd.

Translated from German by DeepL/ts

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