Main organizers: the Consulate General of Switzerland in St. Petersburg, the North-Western Institute of Management of the Russian Federation Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration with assistance of the Committee for External Relations of St. Petersburg and the Swiss National Tourist Office in Moscow (Switzerland Tourism).
Main organizers: the Consulate General of Switzerland in St. Petersburg, the North-Western Institute of Management of the Russian Federation Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration with assistance of the Committee for External Relations of St. Petersburg and the Swiss National Tourist Office in Moscow (Switzerland Tourism).
The main goal of the conference is creating a scientific platform to exchange federalism-related opinions and practical experience of Switzerland and Russia. Switzerland enjoys a world-wide reputation of a country which has been able to combine its powerful federal power with the active power of cantons and municipal governments, notwithstanding and keeping in mind the nationally and religiously heterogeneous composition of the country’s population.
The conference was attended by politicians, heads of Russian and foreign higher educational establishments, historians, political experts, and other active participants who study and deal with federalism-related issues. On behalf of the executive and legislative authorities of St. Petersburg the participants were greeted by Igor Lonsky, First Vice Chairman of the Committee for External Relations of St. Petersburg, and Vatanyar Yagya, Chairman of the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg. The list of speakers from Switzerland featured prominent politicians – the former president of Switzerland Pascal Couchepin and Filippo Lombardi, Co-Chairman of the “Switzerland - Russia” Friendship Group at the Council of States. Nicolas Schmitt, an international expert in federalism and Co-Founder of the Institute of Federalism in Freiburg, Switzerland, acted as the professional moderator of the conference. The Swiss experience of implementing policy in the areas related to the federative structure of a state was discussed during the conference along with the possibility of applying this approach in Russia.