News

On Monday 5 October, President Guy Parmelin met India’s President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other members of the Indian government in New Delhi. Discussions held with Mr Modi focused on economic relations and cooperation in the fields of education and research. Switzerland and India also concluded two agreements, one on migration and one on training exchanges for young professionals.

The conference provides a platform for participating States, OSCE institutions and structures, national human rights institutions and civil society to take stock of the implementation of OSCE human dimension commitments and discuss developments affecting democracy, human rights and the rule of law across the OSCE region. The OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Ignazio Cassis (via video message), the OSCE Secretary-General, Feridun H. Sinirlioğlu, and the FDFA State Secretary Alexandre Fasel also took part in the conference.

Opening remarks by FDFA State Secretary Alexandre Fasel at the OSCE Warsaw Human Dimension Conference. The speech was given in English. Check against delivery.

The Federal Tax Administration has updated the course listings and bonus shares 2024, 2025 and 2026.

The meeting took place today as part of annual political consultations between Switzerland and Turkey. Discussions focused on bilateral relations and the challenges faced by the OSCE. They also covered a variety of regional and international issues.

National Armaments Director Urs Loher received representatives from the French Directorate General of Armament (DGA) from 1 to 2 October 2026 for bilateral work discussions. The discussions focused on current defence policy developments as well as bilateral cooperation.

On 2 October, the Federal Council decided to fund eight projects by Swiss companies to support reconstruction in Ukraine. The projects were selected through a competitive selection process.

Ambassadorial titles have been awarded and the following personnel changes have been decided on for 2026 and 2027 in the external network as well as at FDFA head office and the Federal Chancellery. This comes as part of the FDFA's periodic transfer rotation and is based on appointments made by the Federal Council.

During its meeting on 2 October 2026, the Federal Council adopted the dispatch on the continuation of international monetary assistance. Switzerland should continue to be able to provide international monetary assistance of up to a total of CHF 10 billion under the Monetary Assistance Act. The Federal Council also decided that, within the International Monetary Fund (IMF), funds may be transferred to reduce interest rates on loans to low-income countries.

The Federal Department of Finance (FDF) and the Swiss National Bank have signed an agreement on the SNB’s profit distributions for the years 2026 to 2030. The modalities remain unchanged. Provided that the SNB’s financial situation permits, an amount of up to CHF 6 billion per annum will be distributed to the Confederation and the cantons.

The annual report 2025 of the Swiss Transportation Safety Investigation Board is available on the website of the STSB. It reports on the activities of the STSB of the last year. The STSB’s independent investigations of safety-relevant incidents make an important contribution to safety in public transport, aviation and both inland and maritime navigation.

On 30 September, an international large-scale operation resulted in the dismantling of IT infrastructure used by the “KillSec” ransomware group. The Federal Office of Police fedpol and the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) were directly involved as operational and strategic partners.