Switzerland can’t remain an observer, warns Federal Chancellor

Walter Thurnherr has been head of the Federal Chancellery since 2016. Keystone / Anthony Anex

Swiss Federal Chancellor Walter Thurnherr wants the country to get more involved in global decisions that affect it.

In an interview in the Neue Zürcher Zeitung newspaper published on Friday, Thurnherr criticised Switzerland’s observer stance when it comes to international affairs. Other countries use political arguments, while Switzerland approaches things from a legal perspective, he said.

Thurnherr said foreign policy is more than just “managing foreign relations, more than a few tweets a week”. He added that core issues are now regulated at the international level. The federal chancellor cited examples where Switzerland could be more proactive, such as digitalisation, financial and tax policy and climate change.

+ What does the Swiss chancellor actually do?

He told the paper that Switzerland imagined that it could observe crises without exposing itself to them, but it ended up becoming jittery. The pandemic and the war in Ukraine brought a realisation that other countries were not treating Switzerland with the respect it was used to, he said.

In future, the country will have to take a better interest in the affairs of other nations in order to identify crises earlier, he concluded.

The federal chancellor heads the Federal Chancellery in Bern, which plans and coordinates government business. Chancellors also take part in the weekly government meetings, where they have an advisory role. As the government’s chief of staff, they can mediate, coordinate, co-author reports, make proposals and even submit motions. Voting, however, is not possible. 

The chancellor’s area of responsibility also oversees communication for the federal government as well as federal initiatives and referendums, and elections in the House of Representatives.