Swiss Armed Forces

On 13 May, Federal Councillor Martin Pfister, Head of the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS), will attend the United Nations (UN) Peacekeeping Ministerial conference in Berlin. Markus Mäder, State Secretary for Security Policy, will also attend. The conference will focus on issues in security policy and international cooperation on future peacekeeping activities. On the fringes of the conference, Mr Pfister will meet with German defence minister Boris Pistorius and Italian defence minister Guido Crosetto.

National Armaments Director Urs Loher is taking part in the DEFEA 2025 defence exhibition in Athens. Within this framework, bilateral discussions with the National Armament Directors of Greece and Israel as well as exchanges with representatives from industry will take place.

From 11 to 17 May, Basel will host the Eurovision Song Contest, a major event that will see extensive support from various agencies of the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport, the Federal Office of Police, and the Federal Office for Customs and Border Security. These agencies will work alongside the organisers and cantonal authorities to ensure the security of the event, with the Confederation making a crucial contribution to public safety.

From 28 April to 9 May, the Swiss Armed Forces will take part in the world’s largest cyber defence exercise, Locked Shields 25. Around 40 participants from the Swiss Armed Forces, the Federal Administration, the cantons and operators of critical infrastructure will be taking part. As part of the exercise, the teams will defend fictitious IT infrastructures against cyberattacks by a fictitious adversary.

On 16 April, National Armaments Director Urs Loher met with the Deputy National Armaments Director of Poland, Colonel Krzysztof Komorowski, for bilateral discussions in Switzerland. The focus was on an exchange of ideas about current armaments policy topics.