Czech President Petr Pavel and his wife, Eva Pavlova.
Keystone-SDA
Czech President Petr Pavel and his wife, Eva Pavlova, arrived in Switzerland on Tuesday at the start of a two-day state visit.
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Swiss President Viola Amherd welcomed them at Zurich-Kloten Airport on Tuesday.
Pavel is due to attend an economic forum at the federal technology institute ETH Zurich. He will then visit the Spiez Laboratory, the Swiss Federal Institute for NBC-Protection, near Bern, and the Federal Office for Defence Procurement (Armasuisse) in Thun, according to the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA).
On Wednesday, the Czech president will be received with military honours on the Bundesplatz in Bern. He will meet a delegation from the Federal Council to discuss bilateral trade, migration, economic, economic and security issues, including the war in Ukraine.
European policy will also be at the centre of discussions, in particular ongoing negotiations with the European Union. The Middle East conflict and bilateral cooperation are also on the agenda.
Around 11,000 Czech citizens live in Switzerland, and 1,600 Swiss citizens reside in the Czech Republic. The volume of trade between the two countries reached CHF5.2 billion last year, three times the level of twenty years ago. Switzerland is the seventh largest investor in the Czech Republic.
Translated from French with DeepL/sb
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