75 years on from their adoption, the Geneva Conventions remain as vital as ever.

Deputy Ambassador Chantal Moser was presented with the WPP BAV "Best Country" award for Switzerland at a reception in the UK House of Commons, hosted by Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP and attended by Business Minister Kevin Hollinrake.

The Embassy marked Wales Week and St David’s Day with our annual reception, joined by Shadow Secretary of State for Wales Jo Stevens and representatives from Llandudno and Champéry – towns twinned since 2022.

To mark the launch of the Accord 30 report, the Embassy team joined experts and colleagues from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) and Conciliation Resources to discuss adaptation and innovation in peace mediation.

Between the signing of the Berne Financial Services Agreement and attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt found time for another Swiss stopover – joining Ambassador Markus Leitner and 18 Swiss business leaders for lunch at the Embassy in early January.

On 13 November 2023 the third round of strategic dialogue between Switzerland and the UK took place in London. The discussions centered on the intensive and diverse bilateral relations between Switzerland and the UK, current international affairs, and European matters. The primary objective of the discussions was to enhance political, economic and scientific cooperation between the two nations.

On 27 October 2023 the President of the Swiss Confederation, Federal Councillor Alain Berset, travelled to Oxford to give a speech in one of the most distinguished and historic debating chambers in Europe, the Oxford Union. His keynote address focused on Switzerland’s role in a fractured world – a world in which conflict, democratic backsliding, human rights infringements and border-defying challenges such as climate change are increasing.

The current UK-Switzerland bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA) entered into force on 1 January 2021 after existing agreements were rolled over to avoid a cliff-edge situation following Brexit. It is the foundation both trading partners are building on and provides for duty-free bilateral trade in industrial goods and for a partial liberalization of trade in processed agricultural products. On 15 May 2023 Federal Councillor Guy Parmelin met with his UK counterpart, Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch, in Bern to launch negotiations on a new UK-Switzerland FTA to boost trade between Switzerland and the UK as two services superpowers.

On 14 September 2023, the Embassy of Switzerland in the UK held the first edition of our Soirée Suisse at the Royal Academy of Arts.

NatalieThomas, Head of the Swiss Business Hub UK shares her experience and outlook on the flourishing trade relations between Switzerland and the UK with the readers of "London Business Matters", the magazine of the London Chambers of Commerce and Industry (LCCI).

Switzerland’s Foreign Minister, Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis, attended the 2023 Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC) in London from 21-22 June, where he called for a continuation of the reconstruction process for Ukraine based on the Lugano principles agreed at the first URC held in Switzerland in 2022.

Federal Councillor Guy Parmelin visited London on 14 June 2023 to meet his British counterpart, Secretary of State for Business and Trade Kemi Badenoch, for the signing of an agreement between Switzerland and the UK on the recognition of professional qualifications.

The International Day of UN Peacekeepers is held on 29 May to pay tribute to all the men and women who have served and continue to serve in United Nations peacekeeping operations around the world, for their high level of professionalism, dedication, and courage and to honour the memory of those who have died while serving on peacekeeping missions.

The President of the Swiss Confederation, Alain Berset, attended the celebrations to mark the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla in London.

On Thursday 20 April Federal Councillor Viola Amherd visited London for a meeting with her counterpart in the UK, Secretary of State for Defence Ben Wallace MP.

On 10 November, Federal Councillor Guy Parmelin and UK Minister of State at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, George Freeman, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in London on cooperation in research and innovation.

The role of a peace mediator has always been intricate and multi-layered. As conflicts become increasingly complex and recurrent, changing circumstances and new challenges require mediation practitioners to consider new approaches. The States of Mind in Conflict (SOMIC) project is an attempt to innovate peace mediation practice through the application of psychological insights and tools to mediation.

How are digital tools polarising societies and fuelling violence? And how can they be used to build peace instead? These were the main questions explored at our panel event held on 10 May 2022.

Switzerland imposed unprecedented sanctions on Russia in response to its military aggression against Ukraine. This step made international headlines and sparked questions as to whether Switzerland is still a neutral country and how these decisions affect its overall foreign policy. Join us in Cambridge on Monday 6 June for a panel discussion where we will attempt to answer these questions and more.

On Thursday 28 April, President Ignazio Cassis met with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Foreign Secretary Elizabeth Truss in London. President Cassis was also invited to pay a courtesy visit to Queen Elizabeth II.

President of the Swiss Confederation Ignazio Cassis explained Switzerland's neutrality policy ahead of his vist to the UK on 28 April.

From Mariupol and other cities in Ukraine, to Mosul, Aleppo and other cities in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Ethiopia and the Philippines, the global resurgence of siege warfare and its devastating impact on civilian populations have raised serious questions about the implementation of international humanitarian law (IHL) and military strategy and operational practice.

In June 2020, Finance Ministers Ueli Maurer and Rishi Sunak issued a joint statement expressing their intention to conclude a financial services agreement (MRA). This should enable cross-border market access for a wide range of financial services in the areas of insurance, banking, asset management and capital market infrastructure. Both Finance Ministers met again in London in December 2021 and expressed their shared intention to continue the negotiations on the MRA in the current constructive spirit.