Signor Ambasciatore,
Liebe Mitbürgerinnen und Mitbürger mit Wohnsitz in Grossbritanien,
Distinguished Guests,
Mesdames et Messieurs, Chers Confédérés,
In quanto Presidente del Consiglio nazionale è per me un grande onore potermi rivolgere a voi oggi in occasione della Festa nazionale svizzera. Questa visita mi dà l’opportunità di rafforzare i vincoli d’amicizia che da sempre uniscono la Svizzera e il Regno Unito. Il buon rapporto esistente tra i due Paesi è confermato anche dai numerosi alberghi svizzeri che portano il nome della regina Vittoria, ad esempio il Viktoria Jungfrau di Interlaken o il maestoso Albergo Viktoria di Glion presso Montreux. E non ho certo bisogno di ricordare che negli alberghi che portano questo nome noi, nonostante la nostra modestia repubblicana, veniamo trattati da re.
Ich freue mich aber auch sehr, zusammen mit meiner Gattin Gast unserer schweizerischen Botschaft in London zu sein. Herr Botschafter Spinner und seine Gattin, Frau Spinner, sowie seine sehr engagierten Mitarbeiterinnen und Mitarbeiter mit ihren Ehegattinnen und - gatten haben es in den letzten Jahren treffend verstanden, in London das Bild einer kulturell, wirtschaftlich und politisch modernen und zukunftsgerichteten Schweiz zu entwerfen. Exhibitions (u.a. in der Tate Modern), concerts, entertainments usw. sind vielgerühmte Beispiele solcher Aktivitäten. Für diese erfolgreiche Tätigkeit spreche ich Ihnen im Namen des schweizerischen Parlamentes den verdienten Dank aus.
Swiss National Day, the 1st of August, offers the opportunity to look back to the past, to take a glance at the present day and to catch a glimpse of the future.
1. Remembering the birth of the Swiss Confederation
Every 1st of August makes us Swiss remember the foundation of the Swiss Confederation, an image symbolised by the legend of the oath taken by the representatives of the three original cantons Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden on the Rütli meadow. This date has thus become a part of our historic awareness, even though it doesn’t have the aura of the American Independence Day or the French Bastille Day.
A propos du 14 juillet : Il peut paraître surprenant de commémorer „notre 1er août“ un 14 juillet, jour de Fête nationale de nos voisins et amis Français. N’y voyez là aucune intention de concurrence!. Honni soit qui mal y pense, diront même, avec un fair-play légendaire, les sujets de sa Majesté la Reine.
Personnellement j’y vois un clin d’œil à l’Histoire, à la bataille de Fontenoy plus particulièrement: vous, membres et amis de la Colonie Suisse de Londres, avez décidé de remettre au goût du jour la tristement célèbre réplique du Comte d’Auteroche „Messieurs les Anglais, tirez les premiers ! Il n’est nullement dans nos intentions, aujourd’hui, de conquérir quelque comté ou duché d’Angleterre, mais tout simplement de fêter les premiers, en primeur, le 1er août d’un nouveau millénaire ! Et ainsi, sans vouloir paraphraser le Comte d‘Auteroche, notre ambassadeur a certainement voulu nous apostropher ainsi : „Messieurs les Confédérés, fêtons les premiers!“. La référence à l’Histoire m’ayant contraint à la restriction masculine, j’adresse bien naturellement cette invitation également aux dames ici présentes!
1291 – a figure symbolising the „outbreak“ and the breaking away from the domination of a foreign Sovereign, breaking loose from a remote Governor („Vogt“). Still today, this symbol materialises in such notions as Freedom, Neutrality, or Nicholas of Flüe. And yet, to the minds of certain groups, these words are not the expression for open-mindedness and tolerance; they are misused to defend the past, to protect vested rights. These persons do not perceive these changes as an opportunity; they only see them as a threat.
2. Attempt to grasp the present
Since the vote on the European Economic Area in December 1992, we feel in Switzerland a tendency – kindled by the right-wing parties but appearing in other levels of the political spectrum - towards detachment, towards isolation, towards withdrawal into our shell. The convincing YES answer voted by the Swiss people to approve the bilateral agreements with the European Union was, in that respect, a promising exception.
The next tremendous challenge facing our country will be no doubt the renewed attempt to join the United Nations, a decision which the Swiss people is scheduled to make in March or in June 2002. Even though the people and the cantons clearly rejected UN membership in 1986, we stand nowadays a good chance of overcoming the critical obstacle of the “majority of cantons” thanks to a solid joint position of the Government, the Parliament and the business community. This optimism is based on the fact that the upper Chamber, the Council of States, recommended approval of the Popular Initiative “in favour of UN membership”, with 37 votes against 2, whereas the vote in 1986 showed a mere 24 votes in favour against 16 refusals. I am quite certain that the National Council will likewise vote overwhelmingly in favour of joining the UN. On the other hand, the role played by the UN has changed considerably during the last years. More and more Swiss citizens realise that the UN’s task isn’t only that of imposing and securing peace - a role which draws criticism with regard to Swiss neutrality - but that the UN has become, under its new Secretary general Kofi Annan, an efficient, world-wide organisation, accomplishing invaluable work thanks to its programmes in nutrition, health, women and child promotion and protection, among others.
Joining the UN will enable Switzerland to finally be represented in the main organs of the Institution and accomplish tasks far beyond its already existing contributions in sub-organisations and its financial assistance, thus giving more impetus to the Swiss foreign policy goals. UN membership is furthermore a contribution to improve the overall conditions in which our globally active economy is evolving.
May I add that in view of next year the UN has placed emphasis on the issue of mountains. A good omen? A coincidence? I congratulate the Swiss Ambassador Bruno Spinner for having seized the opportunity to place this year’s “Presence Suisse” programme under the topic “Dialogue across mountains”. I look forward to seeing mountains becoming the issue which might tighten the ties of friendship between Switzerland and Britain.
In his book „How the English made the Alps“ Jim Ring describes „the remarkable story of the English love affair with the Alps“. I hope this love affair lasts a long time and eventually results in intimate partnership or even marriage!
3. A glance at the future
Even though the 1st of August is a day full of history, I have taken the option of not concentrating too much on the past and preferably looking into the future.
After a deep recession in the nineties, Switzerland is presently - both on the economic and financial levels – in a stable phase, even though I realise this statement should not lead to any exuberance. Thanks to low inflation, low interest rates and low unemployment figures, we can now consider fulfilling certain demands which should enhance our fiscal competitiveness. One of the main areas of reform is the tax rebate awarded families and the middle class which are clearly the foundations of the small business enterprises.
On the other hand, we must better prepare our society for the future as part of a global world. May I especially emphasise the following issues in this regard:
a) We must place once again, and consistently, the human being – with his personal dignity and ethical dimension – in the focal point of our action. The ultimate goal is to create an added value for the economy as a whole, for the community and for the working person.
b) In order to survive in the modern Knowledge Society, to create or to maintain promising jobs, we must once again direct our investment towards human capital. We need an effective Education and Research framework in Switzerland (“Ausbildungs- und Forschungsplatz Schweiz”). In this regard, qualification and permanent on-the-job training of all labour forces are key elements in the world-wide competition to draw business activities in our country.
c) The new generation must recognise again that the opportunity to be seized consists mainly in becoming world citizens again, be it by learning languages, gathering experience on location, being confronted with foreign cultures and customs. Our society needs young people with courage, with innovation and creativity, with openness and with a taste of risk, with a new entrepreneurial spirit and with self-confidence.
d) And finally, we need a new experience of solidarity. Uncertainty and fear, which are brought about by globalisation, reinforce not only the unavoidable call for security but also the need for a new form of solidarity, both towards the inside and the outside of the nation. May we reverse the tendency which consisted of placing one‘s only self and one‘s only fate in the forefront? An opportunity in this regard is the “Swiss Solidarity Foundation”, which is designed to provide financial assistance to projects in Switzerland and abroad thanks to the dividends produced by the sale of surplus gold belonging the Swiss National Bank. Solidarity is necessary in order to help avoid or solve social tensions in Switzerland and abroad. Solidarity is also the appropriate instrument to recall Switzerland commitment to its humanitarian tradition and to renew it.
I wish for us all that the force and confidence, the zeal and the relieving open-mindedness required is retrieved in order that Switzerland can once again be perceived - domestically and abroad - as a nation committing its strength to the enforcement of peace and to the expansion of prosperity.