News

The Basel Convention in the area of electrical and electronic waste (e-waste) governs the import and export of hazardous waste and its environmentally sound disposal. As part of an international parallel audit with the audit offices of Germany and Austria, the Swiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO) examined implementation in Switzerland. The three audit offices are expected to assess the situation in Germany and Austria in a joint report at the end of 2026.

The Confederation is involved in the ordering and financing of regional passenger transport (RPT). Transports Publics Fribourgeois (TPF) is the largest passenger transport company in the canton of Fribourg. In 2025, the Swiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO) audited the subsidies paid to TPF. The aim was to assess whether the RPT subsidies awarded in the 2024 financial year were used legally and appropriately. The audit focused on the cost accounting model, the legal use of the RPT division's profits, and the TPF group's funding arrangements.

Le conseiller fédéral Ignazio Cassis a reçu le ministre des affaires étrangères de la République du Panama, Javier Martínez-Acha Vásquez, à Berne. Les deux ministres ont tenu des entretiens bilatéraux et un déjeuner de travail. Ils ont passé en revue les relations bilatérales ainsi que les grands dossiers régionaux et internationaux. La rencontre a également été marquée par l’inauguration de la nouvelle Ambassade du Panama en Suisse.

Speech given by Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis, Head of the Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) - check against delivery

Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis, head of the FDFA, will be in Berlin on 9 and 10 June 2026. There he will meet the German foreign minister, Johann Wadephul, and research minister, Dorothee Bär, and attend the Soirée Suisse at the Swiss embassy.

The Swiss Armed Forces are modernising their artillery. Today’s armoured howitzer M109 dates back to the 1960s and is to be replaced by a new system. For this purpose, armasuisse has signed the procurement contract with the German manufacturer KNDS Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG.

With the new “ESA” special coin, Swissmint is honouring Switzerland's space programme and its contribution to European space exploration. The silver coin will be issued on 11 June 2026, and will showcase Switzerland's cooperation with the European Space Agency (ESA).

Swissmint is launching the four-part series “The Four Seasons” with its new special coin dedicated to summer. Issued on 11 June 2026, the first silver coin highlights the changing of the seasons.

91.7% of young people who turned 15 between 2010 and 2014 had obtained an upper-secondary level qualification 10 years later. This proportion varies considerably between regions and from canton to canton. It is lower in large urban communes such as Zurich (88%), Basel (86%) and Geneva (82%), but also varies markedly between neighbourhoods. In the Langstrasse district of Zurich, the upper-secondary qualification rate was 80% and in the Fluntern district 96%. These are the main findings of a new publication by the Federal Statistical Office (FSO), which provides a detailed picture of the geographical distribution of the upper-secondary and Swiss baccalaureate qualification rate.

The Swiss hotel sector recorded 18.7 million overnight stays during the winter tourist season (November 2025 to April 2026). Compared with the same period last year, overnight stays increased by 1.1% (+198 000 overnight stays). Demand by foreign visitors rose slightly, by 0.5% (+46 000 million) to 9.3 million overnight stays and domestic demand rose by 1.6% (+152 000) to 9.5 million overnight stays. These are the provisional results from the Federal Statistical Office (FSO).

On 4 June 2026, the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research (EAER) has amended annex 2 of the ordinance on measures against Sudan. Seven individuals have been added to the annex. The measures come into force on 5 June 2026 at 11 p.m.

Switzerland is to provide USD 70 million in support of the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG). The Federal Council took this decision at its meeting on 5 June. PIDG mobilises private sector capital to develop sustainable basic infrastructure in sub-Saharan Africa and South and Southeast Asia.