Federal Department of Foreign Affairs
Federal Department of Foreign Affairs FDFA | |
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Headquarters | Bern , Federal Palace West |
Chief |
![]() Ignazio Cassis ( FDP / TI ), Federal Councilor |
Deputy |
![]() Ueli Maurer ( SVP / ZH ), Federal Councilor |
Employees | 5800 |
At sight | Federal Council |
Subordinate offices |
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Website | www.eda.admin.ch |
The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs FDFA ( French Département fédéral des affaires étrangères DFAE , Italian Dipartimento federale degli affari esteri DFAE , Rhaeto-Romanic ), so named since 1979, is one of the seven departments of the Swiss state government , the Federal Council . It corresponds to the foreign ministries in other countries. Ignazio Cassis has been the head of the FDFA since November 1, 2017 .
history

Originally, the respective Federal President took over the management of the "Political Department" (PD) for one year at a time. In 1888 the department was redesigned by Numa Droz , who headed the department for five years. Between 1896 and 1914 the Federal Council then reverted to the original system.
Designations
- 1848: Political Department
- 1888: Department of Foreign Affairs
- 1896: Political Department
- 1979: Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA)
tasks
The task of the FDFA is to safeguard Switzerland's interests at home and abroad. The means to achieve this is Swiss foreign policy , the objectives of which are set out in Article 54, Paragraph 2 of the Federal Constitution (BV) as follows:
“The Confederation is committed to maintaining Switzerland's independence and its welfare; it contributes in particular to the alleviation of misery and poverty in the world, to the respect of human rights and to the promotion of democracy, to a peaceful coexistence of peoples and to the preservation of the natural foundations of life. "
Areas
- General Secretariat
- State Secretariat
- Presidential Affairs and Minutes
- Crisis management center
- Political Directorate
- Europe, Central Asia, Council of Europe, OSCE
- Middle East and North Africa Department
- Sub-Saharan Africa and Francophonie Department
- Asia and Pacific Department
- Department of America
- United Nations and International Organizations Division
- Human Security Department
- Sectoral Foreign Policy Department
- Security Policy Department
- Directorate for European Affairs (DEA)
- Resource Directorate (DR)
- Consular Directorate (KD)
- Directorate for International Law (DV)
- Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC)
Head of the Department
year | image | Name (life data) |
Political party |
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1848-1849 |
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Jonas Furrer (1805–1861) |
free. |
1850 |
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Henri Druey (1799–1855) |
free. |
1851 |
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Josef Munzinger (1791–1855) |
free. |
1852 |
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Jonas Furrer (1805–1861) |
free. |
1853 |
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Wilhelm Matthias Naeff (1802-1881) |
free. |
1854 |
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Friedrich Frey-Herosé (1801–1873) |
free. |
1855 |
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Jonas Furrer (1805–1861) |
free. |
1856 |
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Jakob Stämpfli (1820–1879) |
free. |
1857 |
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Constant Fornerod (1819-1899) |
free. |
1858 |
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Jonas Furrer (1805–1861) |
free. |
1859 |
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Jakob Stämpfli (1820–1879) |
free. |
1860 |
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Friedrich Frey-Herosé (1801–1873) |
free. |
1861 |
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Josef Martin Knüsel (1813–1889) |
free. |
1862 |
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Jakob Stämpfli (1820–1879) |
free. |
1863 |
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Constant Fornerod (1819-1899) |
free. |
1864 |
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Jakob Dubs (1822–1879) |
free. |
1865 |
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Karl Schenk (1823–1895) |
free. |
1866 |
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Josef Martin Knüsel (1813–1889) |
free. |
1867 |
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Constant Fornerod (1819-1899) |
free. |
1868 |
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Jakob Dubs (1822–1879) |
free. |
1869 |
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Emil Welti (1825–1899) |
free. |
1870 |
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Jakob Dubs (1822–1879) |
free. |
1871 |
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Karl Schenk (1823–1895) |
free. |
1872 |
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Emil Welti (1825–1899) |
free. |
1873 |
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Paul Cérésole (1832–1905) |
free. |
1874 |
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Karl Schenk (1823–1895) |
free. |
1875 |
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Johann Jakob Scherer (1825-1878) |
free. |
1876 |
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Emil Welti (1825–1899) |
free. |
1877 |
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Joachim Heer (1825–1879) |
free. |
1878 |
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Karl Schenk (1823–1895) |
free. |
1879 |
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Bernhard Hammer (1822–1907) |
free. |
1880 |
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Emil Welti (1825–1899) |
free. |
1881 |
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Numa Droz (1844-1899) |
free. |
1882 |
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Simeon Bavier (1825-1896) |
free. |
1883 |
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Louis Ruchonnet (1834-1893) |
free. |
1884 |
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Emil Welti (1825–1899) |
free. |
1885 |
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Karl Schenk (1823–1895) |
free. |
1886 |
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Adolf Deucher (1831-1912) |
free. |
1887-1892 |
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Numa Droz (1844-1899) |
free. |
1893-1896 |
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Adrien Lachenal (1849–1918) |
FDP |
1897 |
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Adolf Deucher (1831-1912) |
FDP |
1898 |
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Eugène Luffy (1854-1919) |
FDP |
1899 |
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Eduard Müller (1848-1919) |
FDP |
1900 |
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Walter Hauser (1837–1902) |
FDP |
1901 |
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Ernst Brenner (1856–1911) |
FDP |
1902 |
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Joseph Zemp (1834-1908) |
Catholic Cons. |
1903 |
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Adolf Deucher (1831-1912) |
FDP |
1904 |
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Robert Comtesse (1847-1922) |
FDP |
1905 |
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Marc Ruchet (1853-1912) |
FDP |
1906 |
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Ludwig Forrer (1845–1921) |
FDP |
1907 |
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Eduard Müller (1848-1919) |
FDP |
1908 |
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Ernst Brenner (1856–1911) |
FDP |
1909 |
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Adolf Deucher (1831-1912) |
FDP |
1910 |
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Robert Comtesse (1847-1922) |
FDP |
1911 |
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Marc Ruchet (1853-1912) |
FDP |
1912 |
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Ludwig Forrer (1845–1921) |
FDP |
1913 |
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Eduard Müller (1848-1919) |
FDP |
1914-1917 |
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Arthur Hoffmann (1857-1927) |
FDP |
1917 |
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Gustave Ador (1845-1928) |
LP |
1918-1919 |
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Felix Calonder (1863–1952) |
FDP |
1920-1940 |
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Giuseppe Motta (1871-1940) |
SKVP |
1940-1944 |
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Marcel Pilet-Golaz (1889-1958) |
FDP |
1945–1961 |
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Max Petitpierre (1899-1994) |
FDP |
1961-1965 |
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Friedrich Traugott Elections (1899–1985) |
BGB |
1966-1970 |
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Willy Spühler (1902–1990) |
SP |
1970-1988 |
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Pierre Graber (1908-2003) |
SP |
1978-1987 |
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Pierre Aubert (1927-2016) |
SP |
1988-1993 |
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René Felber (* 1933) |
SP |
1993-1999 |
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Flavio Cotti (* 1939) |
CVP |
1999-2002 |
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Joseph Deiss (* 1946) |
CVP |
2003-2011 |
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Micheline Calmy-Rey (* 1945) |
SP |
2012-2017 |
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Didier Burkhalter (* 1960) |
FDP The Liberals |
2017– |
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Ignazio Cassis (* 1961) |
FDP The Liberals |
See also
Web links
- Website of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs FDFA
- Diplomatic documents of Switzerland (Dodis)
- Publications of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs