Expo 2015 and bilateral meeting: Federal Councillor Didier Burkhalter visits Milan
Bern, 29.10.2015 - On Friday, 30 October 2015, the head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), Didier Burkhalter, will go to Milan. There he will visit the Expo site for the closing ceremony of the world exhibition. He will also attend the closing ceremony of the third forum for dialogue between Switzerland and Italy, holding bilateral talks with Italian Minister for Foreign Affairs Paolo Gentiloni on the fringe of this event.
The talks between Mr Burkhalter and Mr Gentiloni will focus on cross-border relations, including tax affairs and frontier workers. Progress on the implementation of the article on immigration in the Federal Constitution and migration policy, in particular the situations in the Mediterranean region and on the migrant route via the Balkans, will be discussed. Other international issues such as the Syrian crisis and the situation in Ukraine will also be addressed. In addition, the Swiss and Italian foreign ministers will sign a declaration in which they express their intention to examine the possibility of joint leases at sites of common interest, i.e. moving the office premises of Switzerland and Italy's representations abroad to a shared site.
After their talks, Mr Burkhalter and Mr Gentiloni will both attend the closing ceremony of the third forum for dialogue between Switzerland and Italy that is being held on 29 and 30 October 2015 in Milan’s Palazzo Clerici. This forum was established three years ago as a platform where politicians, businesspeople, members of the media, cultural players and researchers can discuss topics of common interest.
There are many sides to the bilateral relations between Switzerland and Italy. Regular meetings are held between government and official representatives of the two countries, in addition to which there is also institutionalised contact between the countries' parliaments. More than 500,000 Italians live in Switzerland and 70,000 frontier workers commute to Switzerland every day.
Mr Burkhalter and Mr Gentiloni last met on 28 May 2015 in Bern.
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Federal Department of Foreign Affairs
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