SVP Federal councillor Ueli Maurer has in his eleventh year in office, suddenly the joy of travel. Already eleven times he has gone in this year to official Visit abroad. In 2013, in his first presidential year, he went to travel extensively abroad, true to the SVP doctrine, that a President of the Swiss Confederation had to pre-pay in Switzerland.
Quite different in his second presidential year: On this year’s visit list, Mason is the most powerful heads of state in the world with Donald Trump, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin. As a justification for his desire to travel to the Federal President performs the duty of faithful performance of duties. He’ll do what the country will ask of him, is the response from his Department of Finance. What succeeded is hardly another Federal Council so far – that it is received within one year of the heads of state of the United States, China and Russia –, was just a coincidence. The invitations to Washington and Moscow had long passed, Maurer, have you perceived now.
From the foreign visit in the memory of the Public, especially Mason trouble with the English during an appearance in the US is likely to remain-news channel CNN. The most striking feature of Mason is not to Visit, but also that he is afraid of Meeting with controversial autocrat. So, he traveled in October to Saudi Arabia and met with king Salman and crown Prince Mohammed.
Maurer: “We speak with all”
On Thursday Maurer meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is not a proponent of a liberal democracy are known and whose country faces sanctions because of the annexation of the Crimea under the EU. Maurer refers to the Tradition of good services. “It belongs to the Swiss type, and for the neutrality that we speak to all,” he told Swiss Radio SRF. It is belong to the quality of the Switzerland, that it seats all the States in the table and their representatives “on the shortcomings of addressing”.
national Council of Fabian Molina finds it positive that Mason maintains the contacts with the foreign country. The SP-Foreign policy interferes, however, to the hard points. Mason appears to have forgotten that Switzerland had their best friends in the EU. On Mason program car were instead democratic regime, to which the contacts are maintained mainly because of the economic-political advantages. The participation in the major project of the new silk had been in China street, in the centre, and the human rights violations had been hidden. In 2013, Maurer earned because of a trip to China in Switzerland, criticism. Addressed to the Tiananmen square massacre of 1989, said Maurer, back in Beijing, you could draw a line under this story.
U.S. President Donald Trump welcomed in may, Ueli Maurer in the White house. Photo: Keystone
Problematic Molina also finds Mason, this year’s trip to Saudi Arabia in October, because of the murder of journalist Jamal Kashoggi had not yet worked up, and the war in neighbouring Yemen continued. Critical Molina also sees the visit to Moscow. There, Maurer wanted to talk about the development of the economic relations, where it may go well with the desired free trade agreement with the customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. “So Mason falls to the European partners in the back.” Because it had been agreed that a free trade agreement was not an issue, as there is in the case of the Russian annexation of the Crimea is not a solution.
CVP national councillor Elisabeth Schneider-rating Schneiter, the trips abroad Mason, however, positive. “It is to be welcomed that the Swiss people’s party Federal President shows that he finds the contact with the foreign matter.” The criticism that it is relationships, especially the economy, the President of the foreign policy Committee shall not apply. Maurer offered during his Visit to the diplomatic services of the Switzerland international conflict management. In China, he had addressed the problems of the Uighurs, in Saudi Arabia the case Kashoggi as well as the war in Yemen, and in Moscow he would discuss the conflict in Ukraine. In the foreign countries also visit the economic interests of Switzerland, was legitimate and right. “Good economic and political relations can also serve the promotion of peace.”
Bersets contrast of 2018
Maurer’s predecessor as Federal President, Alain Berset, completed in 2018, a real contrast. Although he, too, met with the Mighty, with Donald Trump at the WEF in Davos, Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron at the Asia-Europe summit in Brussels. However, Berset is also the forgotten victims of the world visited policy in refugee camps in Bangladesh, Lebanon, and Kenya. Berset came travel last year to 21 foreign countries, which he stressed, in contrast to the masons, especially the involvement of Switzerland in international organisations and international conferences attended.
Ueli Maurer, and representatives of the Swiss financial delegation in exchange with Saudi members of the government. Photo: EVS
Mason took in this year obligations to maintain the traditional contacts in Switzerland. So his first foreign visit was to the neighbours of Austria. Maurer traveled in may to Helsinki, because Finland holds in the second half of the presidency of the EU. He took part in Warsaw in the celebrations of the 100 anniversary of the diplomatic relations with Poland, and attended the six meetings of the heads of state of the German-speaking countries.
Created: 20.11.2019, 22:51 PM
