President Juncker delivers speech in Zurich on 70th anniversary of Winston Churchill speech; meets with Swiss President Schneider-Ammann

Yesterday European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker travelled to Switzerland to deliver a speech at Zurich University on the 70th anniversary of the Winston Churchill speech of 19 September 1946. In his address, President Juncker praised Churchill’s speech as a milestone in post-war Europe “containing much which continues to resonate today in Europe, on our continent and also beyond the borders of our continent“. At the same time, the President emphasised that “European integration after the Second World War has not been the work of politicians” but rather “a project of peoples – of those who were tired of going to war against each other. It was a project of those who returned after the war from the front, concentration camps, destroyed cities and villages, and developed a political programme that still today shows its effectiveness“. During his visit to Switzerland, President Juncker also met with the President of the Swiss Confederation Johann Schneider-Ammann. Following their discussion the two leaders held a press point, where President Juncker underlined that the meeting was constructive and that although open issues remained, talks were moving into the right direction. President Juncker emphasised that “the European Union needs Switzerland; and Switzerland needs the European Union. That is why we will be respectful to each other.”