State visit takes Burkhalter to Auschwitz

Burkhalter and his wife laid a wreath at the Auschwitz execution wall to mark the day the camp was liberated in 1945 swissinfo.ch

During a state visit to Poland, Swiss President Didier Burkhalter paid a visit to the Auschwitz Concentration Camp in honour of Holocaust Remembrance Day. His visit also took him to Krakow to discuss development projects.

Burkhalter was accompanied to the camp by his wife and by a Swiss woman whose grandfather survived Auschwitz. During the visit, the Swiss president spoke of the importance of explaining to younger generations what had happened there and “how such tragedies can be avoided in future”.

Earlier in the day, Burkhalter and Polish officials discussed projects benefiting from increased funding for Poland from Switzerland and the European Union.

Switzerland has pledged CHF489 million ($544 million) through 2017 to help Poland integrate into the EU through 58 development projects. The projects have especially focused on modernising and reducing economic inequality in the southern Małopolska Province, where Burkhalter visited a hospital receiving Swiss support.