The official day in Bern took place on Wednesday, 8 March. Augusto Santos Silva also met with a delegation of the National Council Foreign Policy Committee and was received for a courtesy visit by the head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis.
Switzerland and Portugal have traditionally maintained good relations, particularly in terms of trade, education, research and innovation, and international and multilateral cooperation. The Portuguese diaspora in Switzerland, the third largest foreign community, numbers 260,000 people. Augusto Santos Silva's visit follows the official visit to Lisbon 6in 2019 by then Council of States president Jean-René Fournier (The Centre, VS).
Relations between Switzerland and the EU
National Council president Martin Candinas provided his Portuguese counterpart with an overview of relations between Switzerland and the European Union. He also outlined the negotiation package that Switzerland has put forward to the EU and the exploratory talks that are being held with Brussels. The aim of these discussions is to find a common basis that is beneficial to both parties. The president of the Portuguese parliament, Augusto Santos Silva, expressed his support for a rapid resumption of Switzerland's negotiations with the European Union.
In addition, since June 2021, Switzerland has been considered a non-associated third country in the framework of Horizon Europe and its related programmes and initiatives. Under Horizon 2020, Swiss and Portuguese research and innovation institutions collaborated on a total of 274 projects. Given relations between Switzerland and Portugal in this field, Martin Candinas took the opportunity to stress the importance of re-establishing full association status with the EU framework programmes at the earliest opportunity.
Consequences of the war in Ukraine
The impact of the war in Ukraine on Portugal, the political and humanitarian support provided by both countries, and the reception of Ukrainian refugees were also discussed during the talks. The parliamentary presidents also exchanged views on the issue of Swiss neutrality. Martin Candinas pointed out that in Switzerland, the re-export of war materiel was currently the subject of significant debate in both chambers of Parliament. With regard to the consequences of the war in Ukraine, the discussion focused on the challenges of energy supply, the problems caused by inflation and cooperation in the European context.
Photos of the official visit