The Council of the Swiss Abroad met twice in August 2021 virtually, replacing the planned conference in Lugano due to the pandemic. It was the first meeting of the 2021-2025 legislature and the Council members had to be ratified.

The Council of the Swiss Abroad consists of 120 members living abroad as well as 20 members representing politics and economy in Switzerland. The first part of the conference consisted in confirming the elected Council members as well as electing the executive committee and president of the Organisation of the Swiss Abroad (OSA).

From a UK perspective, we are delighted to announce that our delegate, Franz Muheim, was successfully re-elected into the executive committee which gives the UK a very privileged position in the OSA. Congratulations to Franz.

The OSA also elected its long-time vice-president Filippo Lombardi as its new president. Mr. Lombardi was a Swiss senate for Ticino for over 20 years and is a distinguished expert in foreign policy. He has been an active defender of the rights of Swiss citizens abroad and has achieved considerable success in parliament. Mr. Lombardi will replace Remo Gysin, whom the Council appointed honorary president. The commission of the “Swiss Review” was also elected and Mr. Lombardi emphasised its instrumental role in delivering crucial information to the Swiss community around the globe, which shall be supported in the upcoming legislature.

Topics discussed at the CSA Meetings:

Pandemic/vaccination

Voting/E-voting

Social security

New community platform swisscommunity.org

New initiatives from the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA)

Holocaust memorial in Switzerland

Representation of the Swiss abroad in parliament

CH-EU relations
 

UK CSA delegates present at the Spring 2021 CSA Meetings:

Andreas Feller-Ryf

Loredana Guetg-Wyatt

Michelle Hufschmid

Franz Muheim

Lakshmi Sundaram

The next OSA meeting will virtually take place on 27 November 2021.