Security measures stepped up for Davos meeting

Barbed wire surrounds the helicopter landing area in Davos in preparation for the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum Keystone

A jihadist-motivated terrorist working alone poses the greatest danger to the World Economic Forum (WEF), according to the Graubünden cantonal police chief responsible for security at the upcoming four-day meeting.

Security forces are working with a slightly increased threat in the wake of the terrorist attack on the satirical Paris magazine Charlie Hebdo on January 7. However, Graubünden Police Chief Walter Schlegel told the press that “we are well prepared”.

Certain measures have been taken to increase security but there has been no concrete threat or sign of a planned attack, Schlegel added. The situation in Paris has had no direct effect on the security system in Davos, which is designed to prevent just such an attack.

The meeting in Davos will be attended this year by 2,500 guests from the politics and business arenas, around 90 of whom will receive especially tight security protection.

In total, 4,500 members of the Swiss army will be on hand, with around 3,000 of them assigned to security duties. In addition, Davos will be protected by an inter-cantonal police force.

According to Jean-Marc Halter, who will oversee the work of the army at WEF, the most important duty is protecting the 48-kilometre airspace around Davos. Two-thirds of the troops will be assigned to this task, and their duties will include protection of the guests arriving by air.

For the first time in 2015, VIPs will pass through customs at the military airport in Dübendorf, in canton Zurich, rather than at Zurich’s international airport. They will be transported to Davos by helicopter.