Working visit of Federal Councillor Micheline Calmy-Rey in the USA

The talks addressed the most important current bilateral and international issues. Mrs Calmy-Rey and Mrs Clinton discussed the situations in the southern Caucasus, the Near East and the Middle East. Secretary of State Clinton took the opportunity to thank Switzerland for representing the USA in countries such as Iran as well as for Switzerland’s commitment to many internationally important issues, in particular in its role as a mediator.  

The two foreign ministers noted with satisfaction that the governments of the USA and Switzerland have been able to find an agreement in principle to the dispute surrounding the disclosure of UBS customer information. The delegations of the two governments responsible for conducting the current negotiations will together determine the details of this out-of-court settlement in the next days.  

The meeting between Secretary of State Clinton and Federal Councillor Calmy-Rey took place in a friendly atmosphere in keeping with the good relations between the two countries that have intensified since the signing of a memorandum of understanding in early summer 2006. The two foreign ministers met for the first time at the beginning of March this year for talks in Geneva.

During her visit to Washington, Mrs Calmy-Rey also met the new US Ambassador to Switzerland, Don Beyer. 

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