Switzerland and Austria confirm close relationship of trust between the two neighbour states

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President Burkhalter joined the Austrian federal president in reiterating the excellent state of relations between Switzerland and Austria. An indication of the close ties between the countries is the custom for both heads of state to make their first trip abroad to the neighbouring country. The head of the new Austrian government, Federal Chancellor Werner Faymann, is therefore to visit Bern next Tuesday.

In today's discussion, the two presidents also spoke on the intensive economic relations between the two states. The trade volume between Switzerland and Austria in 2012 amounted to almost CHF 14 billion, only slightly smaller than that with China.

Intensive cooperation also takes place in many other fields, such as research, consular services and in the context of Schengen. There are currently eleven bilateral representation agreements between the two states, according to which Switzerland and Austria issue visas for the partner country. Venezuela is soon to become the twelfth country in which the Swiss embassy carries out consular services for Austria. A member of consular staff from Austria has already been working in the Swiss embassy in Santo Domingo since 2008. "Such close cooperation in the consular sector is proof of the great deal of trust that exists between the two states", said Mr Burkhalter.

In addition to bilateral topics, the two presidents' discussion also centred on policy on Europe and potential forms of cooperation between Switzerland and Austria in the context of the OSCE. Switzerland is chairing the OSCE in 2014, while Austria holds the chairmanship of the Council of Europe in 2014. In these functions, the two states are jointly organising a conference on combating human trafficking on 17 and 18 February in Vienna.

In the afternoon of his working visit, Mr Burkhalter will hold talks with the vice-chancellor and new minister of finance, Michael Spindelegger, and the Austrian foreign minister, Sebastian Kurz. With Mr Spindelegger, the discussion will mainly focus on issues concerning bilateral and multilateral finance. In what will be their first ever meeting, Mr Kurz and Mr Burkhalter will also cover multilateral and international topics alongside bilateral affairs and Europe.