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“With us, you know what you get, which is rare nowadays!” Alexandre Edelmann, head of Presence Switzerland, a government agency that promotes the country abroad, says in an email. “People love our country without always knowing why,” says Jacques Pitteloud, Switzerland’s ambassador to the U.S. and a veteran diplomat. We are constantly leading the pack in terms of innovation.”This is evident in the prominent role Switzerland plays in some key areas of the global economy. Acknowledging "the elephant in the room," Pitteloud says Switzerland and the EU have "a complex relationship." And as a relatively small, landlocked country in which many areas are difficult to inhabit due to terrain, Switzerland is facing challenges related to population and resources.

Persons: Roger Federer, Philippe, –, Alexandre Edelmann, ”, Jacques Pitteloud, Pitteloud, ” Delphine Donné, Ruag, yearslong, ” Georg Klingler, Donné Organizations: Wimbledon, U.S . News, European Union, Bank, Presence Switzerland, Nestle, Roche, Novartis, Atlas, Logitech, ETH Zurich, Zurich University of Applied Sciences, EU, Greenpeace, Associated Press Locations: Switzerland, Europe, U.S, Swiss, France, China, Canada, Lausanne, Ukraine, Greenpeace Switzerland

☆ Neutral Switzerland wants to take part in Sky Shield defence project
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ZURICH, July 4 (Reuters) - Switzerland wants to participate in the European Sky Shield air defence umbrella, the government said on Tuesday, a move which critics say is incompatible with the country's long-standing tradition of neutrality. European Sky Shield is a common air defence scheme set up by Germany in 2022 to boost European air defence, an issue which has come into sharper focus since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. "Switzerland wishes to participate in the European Sky Shield Initiative and a declaration of intent is due to be signed in Bern," the Defence Ministry told Reuters, confirming an earlier report by broadcaster SRF. Some 17 European countries have so far signed up to the Sky Shield project including Germany, Britain, Finland and Sweden. The Sky Shield move has provoked concerns from Switzerland's neutrality lobby.

Persons: Viola Amherd, Werner Gartenmann, John Revill, Gareth Jones Organizations: Sky, Swiss, Sky Shield, Defence Ministry, Reuters, SRF, Patriot, Pro Schweiz, NATO, Thomson Locations: ZURICH, Switzerland, Germany, Ukraine, Austria, Bern, Britain, Finland, Sweden, Swiss, Denmark

☆ Germany also wants Switzerland's Leopard 1 tanks - Swiss newspaper
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ZURICH, March 4 (Reuters) - In addition to Leopard 2 tanks, German armaments company Rheinmetall wants to buy 96 Leopard 1 tanks from Swiss defence firm Ruag to send to Ukraine, the Swiss newspaper Tages- Anzeiger reported on Saturday. The deal involves used and non-operational Leopard 1 tanks, which Ruag bought in 2016 in Italy and which are still there. The deal could however still go through and is likely to be discussed by Switzerland's Federal Council. The predecessor to the Leopard 2, Leopard 1 tanks are lighter, with a smaller engine and a shorter firing range than their more modern counterpart, but are said to be able to hold up against Russian T-72 tanks. The Swiss and German governments said on Friday that Germany had asked Switzerland to sell back some of its mothballed Leopard 2 tanks, in a deal that could allow Western countries to increase military aid to Ukraine.

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