New Federal Councillor Pfister sets the course for security policy
Keystone-SDA
Developing Swiss security policy strategically, strengthening the army’s defence capabilities and consolidating trust in the defence ministry: these are the priorities that the new defence minister, Martin Pfister, has set himself.
+Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox
Pfister presented his programme to the media on Monday at the weapons range in Bure, canton Jura. While newly elected members of the government usually appear before the media for the first time after 100 days in office, Pfister did so after about half as much time.
+ Viola Amherd hands over keys of Swiss defence ministry to Martin Pfister
Switzerland’s security is more at risk than it has been for years, Pfister said in a statement. Switzerland must therefore take security into its own hands and utilise all available means to achieve this.
Parliament decided to increase the army budget to 1% of gross domestic product by 2032. According to the statement, Pfister said this would complete the first step towards strengthening defence capabilities by the end of the 2030s. He also wants to focus on international cooperation.
Translated from German by DeepL/ts
How we work
We select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate them into English. A journalist then reviews the translation for clarity and accuracy before publication. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. The news stories we select have been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team from news agencies such as Bloomberg or Keystone.
Did you find this explanation helpful? Please fill out the short survey below to help us understand your needs.
External Content
Don’t miss your chance to make a difference! Take our survey and share your thoughts.
