Swiss Delighted That "The Russians are Coming" ....finally

I am very glad that this state visit will finally take place, and it is true that our relations have a centuries-long history, and we do have common pages in that history. By the way, my visit will be dedicated, among other things, to one of those common pages. I mean Suvorov's march across the Alps, which happened already 210
years ago.

Many citizens of Switzerland worked not only for their State but also for Russia.... for instance Domenico Trezzini, form part of our common culture, including the culture of SaintPetersburg, where I come from. For me it is not just a name from a book, it is a person who created the image of Saint Petersburg. That is why I am preparing for this visit with a great interest.

Peter Nielsen, a Skyguide air traffic controller, was stabbed to death on February 24, 2004 near his house in the Swiss town of Kloten. Kaloyev was arrested in a local hotel a day later. Kaloyev lost his family in an air crash on July 2, 2002 when a Tu-154 plane owned by Bashkirian airlines collided with a DHL-owned Boeing over Germany's Lake Constance. Sixty-nine people, including 45 Bashkirian children, who were flying to Spain for a holiday, and two Boeing pilots, were killed.

...  Überlingen air crash in Swiss-controlled airspace which killed 71 people, mostly Russian children. A Russian was later jailed in Switzerland for killing an air traffic controller he blamed for the death of his family in the accident. The Swiss Federal Court later ordered his release.

Well, we are all concerned with the European security now. Russia has formulated its proposals. What do they include? They include establishing a universal forum where most diverse European issues would be addressed and all states would be present, since there are different kinds of states in Europe: NATO members and non-NATO members, EU members and non-EU members, there are Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) members, there is the Collective Security Treaty of which Russia is a party, as well as the OSCE, which is indeed a universal forum, while it doesn't solve all the problems dealing with, in my opinion, minor issues and it does not certainly solve security problems. Hence, the idea of international cooperation in the sphere of European security seems very urgent to me, and I would like to discuss this topic with my Swiss colleagues.

Russia is one of Switzerland's major trading partners, and Switzerland is one of the leading foreign investors in Russia.

Switzerland has been providing technical and financial support and humanitarian aid to Russia for ten years, particularly in the northern Caucasus.

...Merz says he will also discuss human rights violations in Russia and the Caucasus region as "Switzerland is obliged to deal with this matter as depository of the Geneva Conventions and founder of the Red Cross".

"But [it will be done] in the form of questions and not accusations," he told the newspaper.

...The Swiss government should condemn serious attacks against journalists and human rights activists...

The G8, with all respect it deserves, has shown that it is unable to cope with the crisis on its own. It is already a fact. It was necessary to create a new format of G20.

The G-20, or the Group of 20, was established in 1999 to bring together countries to discuss key issues in the global economy. Member countries include Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, United Kingdom and the United States of America.

It frequently draws large protests in host cities.