The Swiss Federal Council has decided to increase humanitarian aid to Ukraine and other countries of the region to CHF 80 million.
“In response to the refugee crisis, the Federal Council, at its meeting on March 11, decided to increase humanitarian assistance to Ukraine to CHF 80 million. With this contribution, Switzerland expresses its solidarity with the people of Ukraine in difficult times,” the Federal Council said in a statement on Friday.
A quarter of this amount will go to help Ukrainian refugees in neighboring countries. Three quarters are intended to help those who remained in Ukraine. The funds will benefit the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, UN agencies, international and local NGO and projects implemented by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) in Ukraine.
About 12 million people are currently dependent on emergency assistance as a result of Russia’s attack on Ukraine.
Ukraine and Switzerland have agreed on mutual recognition of COVID-19 vaccination certificates, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has said.
“I am also pleased to announce that we have agreed to recognize COVID-19 vaccination certificates for free and safe travel of citizens and businesses,” Kuleba said at a press conference following talks with Federal Adviser, Vice President and Chairman of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of the Swiss Confederation Ignazio Cassis in Kyiv on Thursday.
“The exchange of notes has already taken place, and I invite all citizens to the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs tripadvisor.mfa.gov.ua, where you will see updated information on the conditions of travel to Switzerland,” the head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry added.
The Ukrainian Foreign Minister stressed that the mutual recognition of certificates is a very important step. “First of all, this is a step of trust that exists between our countries,” Kuleba added.
The next fifth Ukraine Reform Conference will be held on July 4-5, 2022 in Lugano, the capital of the Swiss canton of Ticino, Head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of the Swiss Confederation Ignazio Cassis has said.
This will be the fifth conference, we want to celebrate the achievements and look back, as well as make it inclusive: it is important to involve regional authorities, the private sector, and Ukrainian citizens, he said at the end of the fourth conference in Vilnius on Thursday.
The Foreign Minister said that Switzerland is glad to see that the international community, together with Ukraine, also wants to strategically support Ukraine’s search for its own path to a peaceful and stable future.
Cassis said that the official preparations for the conference will begin with his visit to Kyiv in October this year.
Following the fourth Ukraine Reform Conference, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba told reporters that attention to Ukraine is not decreasing. According to him, there are already applications from two countries to hold the conference in 2023 and from one in 2024.
He said that another important result was the recognition of the fact that Ukraine went through the crisis associated with the COVID-19 pandemic better than expected by international experts, and this is due to the reforms carried out by the country.
Speaking about the main plans for the next year, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister named the already begun judicial reform, which international partners are ready to help with.
As previously noted by the Ukrainian government, Ukraine Reform Conference is a key annual international event dedicated to expert discussion of progress with Ukrainian reforms. Initiated by the government in 2017, this conference is a platform that brings together Ukrainian and foreign officials, top business owners, EU, NATO, G7, and civil society representatives to draw an annual summary of reforms in Ukraine and discuss further priority steps and prospects.
Key goals of Ukraine Reforms Conference include presenting results of key reforms internationally; setting out the Government’s prioritized objectives for the year ahead; encouraging investment in the Ukrainian economy; and engaging the international community in Ukrainian reforms.
The first such conference was held in London, then in 2018 in Copenhagen and in 2019 in Toronto, and last year there was a break due to the pandemic.
The Ukrainian national football team has beaten Switzerland with a score of 2:1 in the first match of group four of the elite division A of the UEFA Nations League.
In the 14th minute, Andriy Yarmolenko opened the scoring in the match in Lviv. In the 41st minute, Haris Seferovic equalized the score. In the 68th minute, Oleksandr Zinchenko brought victory to Ukraine.
In another match of this group, Germany and Spain tied the game with 1:1 score.
President of Switzerland Simonetta Sommaruga has arrived in Ukraine with a three-day state visit by invitation of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“For the first time in the history of Ukraine-Switzerland relations President of the Swiss Confederation Simonetta Sommaruga arrived in Ukraine with a three-day state visit. This is the first official visit of such level for both Ukraine and Switzerland since the unprecedented restrictions caused by coronavirus have been lifted,” the Embassy of Ukraine in Switzerland said on its Facebook page on Monday.
Bilateral talks during the visit will be aimed at further development of contacts between the leaders of Ukraine Switzerland and deepening of the political dialogue at all levels. The Swiss president will also visit Donbas to which Switzerland regularly provides humanitarian aid.
“Simonetta Sommaruga’s visit to Kyiv today will begin with a cultural program dedicated to modern art and beautiful music which Mrs. President likes so much,” the embassy said.
First Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine Emine Dzhaparova posted on her Facebook page pictures from Sommaruga’s arrival at Kyiv airport.
Dzhaparova said that the subject of Crimea and the consequences of its temporary occupation will also be on the agenda of the visit.
“Switzerland support numerous humanitarian projects aimed at assistance to Ukrainian citizens. Switzerland has invested $1.715 billion in Ukraine’s economy [as of January 2020]. The country is among top five leading investors in the economy of Ukraine, ahead of France, Italy or Austria. A major part of Swiss investment in Ukraine was channeled in industry [around 60%],” the deputy minister said.
Swiss International, part of Lufthansa Group, is increasing the number of Zurich-Kyiv flights from four to six per week from April, Lufthansa Group Country Manager Rene Koinzack has said. “From April 7, the number of flights will be increased to six per week and from July they will be carried out daily,” he told reporters at the Embassy of Switzerland in Kyiv on April 5.
Koinzack added that the flights will be carried out by Bombardier CS300 [for 135 passengers] and CS100 [for 110 passengers] planes.
He also told Interfax-Ukraine that it was too early to talk about a possibility of launching new flights from Kyiv or Ukrainian cities to Switzerland by the airline. Koinzack recalled that the flight between Zurich and Kyiv was resumed only a year ago and the number of passengers on this flights would be increased by 50%. Thus, the company needs some time to analyze results of such changes.
As reported, Swiss International Air Lines stopped performing direct flights between Kyiv and Zurich from October 1, 2014.
“The Zurich-Kyiv route did not come up to our expectations. The situation in Ukraine also played its role,” a representative of the airline, Sonja Ptaszek, said.
The airline resumed flights on this route from March 26, 2018.
