The Swiss Federal President, Guy Parmelin, elected for 2021, will visit Vienna on Tuesday. It is the first trip abroad by the Swiss Federal President. Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen will receive Parmelin in the morning. Parmelin is accompanied by State Secretary Livia Leu, who, as Switzerland's chief negotiator, is responsible for the European dossier in Brussels, as reported by the Swiss news agency sda.
Image: APA (AFP)
The presidential chancellery announced in advance that the conversation between the two heads of state will be about coping with the Covid crisis and its economic and social consequences, as well as important bilateral, but also international issues. Switzerland's relations with the European Union should also be discussed. This is probably about the planned framework agreement. In Switzerland, the treaty is controversial because of the arbitration role for the European Court of Justice (ECJ), which Brussels wants.
Parmelin, who is also Minister of Economics, Education and Research and a member of the traditionally Eurosceptic right-wing conservative Swiss People's Party (SVP), will also meet with Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and National Council President Wolfgang Sobotka (both ÖVP). The presidential chancellery emphasized that bilateral relations between Switzerland and Austria are “excellent”. Switzerland is Austria's fourth largest trading partner.
Switzerland has a 7-day incidence of 82.7, while in Austria the number of new infections with the coronavirus per 100,000 inhabitants climbed to 159 in the past seven days. In Switzerland, shops and leisure facilities such as museums, zoos and some sports facilities reopened on Monday after being closed for six weeks.
