New Year’s speech: President Keller-Sutter praises Swiss modesty

Keystone / Peter Klaunzer

The Swiss president for 2025, Karin Keller-Sutter, has underlined the importance of compromise and humility in Swiss politics in her New Year’s address to the nation.

+Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox

“Humility, in the best sense of the term, is a value that is part of the tradition of our country,” said Keller-Sutter in her speech published on January 1.

It is a basic requirement for the correct functioning of Swiss institutions and for good coexistence, she declared. If Switzerland did not have humility in the face of democracy, every decision would lead to upheaval, said the 61-year-old.

Keller Sutter, who assumes the rotating Swiss presidency in 2025, is also head of the finance ministry.

Switzerland is a country of compromise, said the new president, and this requires the understanding that others also have legitimate concerns.

‘Strong and capable’

It is unclear what 2025 will bring, she noted, but Switzerland can approach this new year with confidence.

“Switzerland is strong and has the capacity to act,” said Keller-Sutter, adding that Swiss democratic and constitutional institutions function well and the sense of community is “firmly anchored”.

“We can find solutions. That is not something to be taken for granted and we can be grateful for that,” she commented, expressing her thanks to those who contribute to “the success of living together every day”.

In 2025, Keller-Sutter will be the seventh woman to hold the office of Swiss president. Doris Leuthard (Christian Democratic Party), Simonetta Sommaruga (Social Democratic Party) and Micheline Calmy-Rey (Social Democratic Party) were presidents twice, and Ruth Dreifuss (Social Democratic Party), Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf (Conservative Democratic Party) and Viola Amherd (Centre Party) were presidents once.

Adapted from German by DeepL/sb

How we work

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.

If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, if you want to learn more about how we use technology, click here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to [e-mail].