The Swiss ambassador to the United States said the two countries share a strong bond in a speech Wednesday at the Clinton School.
In his lecture titled, “More than just Chocolate, Mountains and Banking: Recent Developments in U.S./Swiss Relations,” Ambassador Urs Ziswiler discussed global issues ranging from climate change and terrorism to the economic crisis and Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons.
A correspondent for Swisster (free registration required), an English-language Swiss newspaper, reported on the lecture:
“We have always had excellent relations with any administration,” Ziswiler told Swisster. “There’s a mutual trust on both sides.”
He conceded that the country disagreed with the United States’ invasion of Iraq and holding prisoners at Guantanamo Bay during the Bush Administration.
“Both issues changed radically with the new administration,” Ziswiler said. “Even if leaving Iraq and Guantanamo takes longer than planned.”
Switzerland will soon receive two brothers from China’s Muslin Uighur minority who had been cleared for release from Guantanamo but feared persecution if they returned to China. Ziswiler said the transfer of the two brothers will occur in a few weeks.
“We do not only want to be critical, we want to be part of the solution,” he said of Guantanamo.
The United States and Switzerland share other major areas of concern such as climate change and the financial sector. The United States should look at climate change as a business opportunity as well as security issue and a humanitarian concern, Ziswiler said.
“If we continue, 50 to 60 percent of Switzerland’s glaciers will disappear by the end of the century,” he said.
Appointed ambassador in March 2006, Ziswiler previously served as director of political affairs for the Department of Foreign Affairs and as senior diplomatic advisor to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
He also served as the Swiss ambassador to Canada and the Bahamas from 1999 to 2004.
Video of his lecture will be posted soon at www.clintonschoolspeakers.com.
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