August 1, 2025 – Speech by the President of the Confederation Karin Keller -Sutter

Speech of 1^is August of the president of the Confederation Karin Keller-Sutter

Dear fellow citizens. Nevertheless, dear fellow citizens,

I am in Wil, my town of residence, in front of the municipal pond.

This city in eastern Switzerland is of great importance not only for me, but also for our country. However, It was at HOF Zu Wil that the thirteen cantons of the former Confederation adopted in 1647 the first military order. entitled the defender of Wil.

This agreement marks the birth of the Swiss army and the country’s armed neutrality. It was concluded at the end of the Thirty Years War. while religious tensions increased in Switzerland as elsewhere and the conflicts raging on the Rhine border threatened to overflow on the territory august 1, 2025 – speech of the Confederates.

Fortunately, today, no risk of military intervention weighs directly on our country. Nevertheless. the wars in Europe and the Middle East have resumed, which is not without consequences for Switzerland and puts us in front of important challenges.

A second analogy with the Thirty Years War came to my mind:

In his baroque. picaresque novel “Simplicissimus”, the German author von Grimmelshausen describes Switzerland as a peaceful island in the heart of a Europe torn by wars, like a paradise on earth where no one has to fear for his property or his life.

Are we not today also privileged at the heart of a world marked by armed conflicts. commercial wars, the erosion of democracy and colossal state debts?

Dear fellow citizens. dear fellow citizens,

Switzerland is doing well, and even very well compared to many other countries, even European countries.

It is in particular august 1, 2025 – speech to our political culture, our liberal economic system and our federal cohesion force that we owe.

Our prosperity. our freedom as well as our political and social advances, however, fall from heaven and are by far not acquired.

We who live in a country that is said to be born of a common political will must want them. engage for them, in privacy, at work, within the community and in politics.

I am convinced that the conditions are met to continue writing the history of the success of our country.

For this. we must take care of our institutions and our political culture, which promote dialogue, the principle of concordance, diversity, solidarity and subsidiarity.

We must also maintain our liberal system. which leaves individuals and companies enough space to develop, but requires that they assume responsibility for their actions.

It is said that everyone is the architect of their own august 1, 2025 – speech fortune.

People ready to provide efforts and get involved will still be able to lead a good life. Even if success, in addition to a certain talent, also requires a pinch of luck.

As at the end of the Thirty Years War. when the Confederation, almost entirely spared military level, acquired the status of sovereign State under the Westphalia Peace Treaties of 1648.

The talents of our ancestors and a touch of luck have made Switzerland what it is today.

On the occasion of the national holiday. we should therefore be proud of our country, while showing a certain humility and especially by keeping in mind that we remain the architects of our own fortune.

I wish you a magnificent 1^is august !