President of the Swiss Confederation visited Finland

President of the Swiss Confederation Ueli Maurer at a working visit to Finland on 10 May 2019. The visit was hosted by President of the Republic of Finland Sauli Niinistö. Photo: Juhani Kandell/Office of the President of the Republic of Finland

President of the Swiss Confederation Ueli Maurer at a working visit to Finland on 10 May 2019. The visit was hosted by President of the Republic of Finland Sauli Niinistö. Photo: Juhani Kandell/Office of the President of the Republic of Finland

President of the Swiss Confederation Ueli Maurer made a working visit to Finland on Friday, 10 May 2019. In addition to bilateral relations between Finland and Switzerland, the official discussions with President Niinistö included topics such as European security and Finland’s EU Presidency beginning on 1 July.

In their discussions, the Presidents pointed out that the two countries have excellent and completely unproblematic relations. The Presidents also discussed the relations between the EU and Switzerland. Other topics discussed included the consequences of Brexit, climate change mitigation and migration to Europe.

At his visit, President Maurer also met Prime Minister Juha Sipilä and Speaker of the Finnish Parliament Antti Rinne and visited the Bank of Finland.

The previous presidential visit from Switzerland to Finland took place in 2014 when President Niinistö hosted the state visit by President of the Swiss Confederation Didier Burkhalter. President Niinistö made a state visit to Switzerland in October 2013 when President Maurer served as the President of the Swiss Confederation for the first time. The President of the Swiss Confederation is elected for one year at a time.