Seara regală dedicată Confederației Elvețiene

Marți, 15 octombrie 2024, Majestatea Sa Custodele Coroanei și Alteța Sa Regală Principele Radu au oferit o seară la Palatul Elisabeta pentru a aniversa centenarul vizitei de Stat a Regelui Ferdinand I și a Reginei Maria în Confederația Elvețiană. AGERPRES

În Sala Regilor, a avut loc o ceremonie în prezența Majestății Sale, a Principelui Radu și a ambasadorului extraordinar și plenipotențiar al Confederației Elvețiene la București, Excelența Sa domnul Massimo Baggi. La ceremonie au fost prezenți ASR Principesa Sofia, ES Nunțiul Apostolic, decanul Corpului Diplomatic acreditat în România, dna Ana Tinca, secretar de Stat reprezentând Ministerul Afacerilor Externe, doamna Marcela Baggi Junkova, soția ambasadorului elvețian, dl Petre Florin Manole, membru al Parlamentului, personalități din societatea civilă românească, reprezentanți ai Casei Majestății Sale și ai Ambasadei Elveției la București. La eveniment și-au dat concursul Orchestra Reprezentativă a Ministerului Apărării Naționale și Brigada 30 Gardă Mihai Viteazul.

A urmat un dineu în Sufrageria Mare a Palatului Elisabeta, oferit de Custodele Coroanei oaspeților elvețieni și români.

Discursul Excelenței Sale ambasadorul Confederației Elvețiene:

Your Majesty, Your Royal Highnesses,

Minister, Excellences, Ladies and Gentlemen,

on the auspicious occasion of the 100^th anniversary of the State Visit of King Ferdinand the first and Queen Marie to Switzerland, it’s a great honor for me to stand here for this royal evening aimed at celebrating the Swiss-Romanian diplomatic relations and the friendship between our nations.

We have seen throughout history that royal diplomacy means vocation, tradition, balance and credibility. The diplomatic tour undertaken a century ago by King Ferdinand and Queen Marie to four countries on the continent, the Swiss Confederation among them, fits perfectly into this note.

The royal visit to Switzerland in May 1924 took place in a complex historical context.  At the very moment when the Romanian royals arrived in Geneva, the newspapers printed a dispatch from Germany announcing that the troops of Soviet Russia were preparing to attack Romania as a result of the dispute over Bessarabia.

Having these in mind, the visit paid by Romania’s King to the headquarters of the League of Nations bears a particular significance. King Ferdinand used his presence at the hard of this international security organization to reaffirm the peaceful intentions of Romania, being praised by the press of the time with headlines like “The pacifist sovereign”.

With your permission your Majesty, I would like to quote this paragraph from King Ferdinand’s speech in Geneva, which seems to me extremely relevant for Romania’s position in favor of maintaining world peace; (quote) After passing through centuries of suffering which gave them unity, the Romanian people have no aggressive ambitions, and only desire full and loyal respect for existing treaties. This is what is driving them to be fully attached to the work of the League of Nations, which has as its objective peace, solidarity and concord between nations (unquote).

One hundred years on, the geopolitical context on the continent and in the world is equally tense. Both Switzerland and Romania are strong advocates of the respect of international law and share common views on important issues on the European and global agenda.

Our two countries enjoy excellent bilateral cooperation, based on shared values, converging interests and very strong cultural affinities. The ties between Switzerland and Romania have been very solid throughout history, encompassing a very diverse spectrum of interactions that have helped to build an enhanced and remarkably dynamic partnership today.

As it was highlighted in march this year on the occasion of the visit to Romania of the President of the Swiss Confederation, Political dialogue is constant and fruitful thanks also to our bilateral cooperation program covering several topics like health and civil protection, justice, education, culture and many others.

Furthermore economic collaboration has steadily intensified and nowadays, thanks to the efforts of our bilateral Chamber of commerce and its members, Romania is the first commercial partner of Switzerland in South-Eastern Europe and Switzerland has constantly been for years among the top 10 foreign investors in Romania.

Allow me to emphasize here, that the ties between Switzerland and the Royal House of Romania have always been special and not only because we speak French together and you probably know Canton de Vaud much better than me.

More than that, Switzerland was the adoptive country of the late King Michael for 44 of 50 years of his forced exile. A country, from where he has never ceased to serve his people and to intervene in Romania’s favor.

At the same time, going deeper into the thread of history, it is worth noting that Swiss personalities have devotedly served to the Romanian royal court. And if I am allowed an anecdote, I would invoke here that ‘loyal as a Swiss’ expression has its origins in the historical reality around the Swiss Louis Basset. Starting to serve at the royal court as private secretary to King Carol I, he loyally served all the three kings of Romania for 60 years.

Distinguished audience,

The strong and respected diplomatic profile that Romania has today in the world is also due to the active role played by the Royal House in society and in foreign diplomatic relations.

After the passing of late King Michael, you, as his successor and Custodian of the Romanian Crown, have had a remarkable contribution to the constantly increased relevance of the Royal House in society and in the diplomatic circles.

The foreign visits and the diplomatic events organized by the Royal House bring added value to Romania’s diplomatic approaches. 

Your Majesty, Your Royal Highnesses,

I wish you the best possible success in your commitment and endeavor to continue the legacy of your illustrious predecessors, visionary forefathers of the Romanian nation and outstanding members of the Royal Family, like King Ferdinand or King Michael, for increasing further Romania’s prestige and respected international profile in the interest of the people of Romania.

Mulțumesc!

Familia Regală a fost strâns legată de Elveția, mai ales prin lunga perioadă a exilului, în care Regele Mihai și Regina Ana au locuit la Versoix și la Aubonne, din 1956 până în anul 1997. Regele și Regina au păstrat, în continuare, reședința lor din Elveția până la sfârșitul vieții suveranului, în anul 2017.

În ultimele două decenii, Custodele Coroanei, Principele Radu și Principesa Maria au efectuat vizite oficiale în Elveția în anii 2002, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2015, 2016 și 2019. Președintele Confederației Elvețiene, ES dl Ignazio Cassis, a fost oaspetele Palatului Elisabeta în decembrie 2022, cu ocazia vizitei sale oficiale în România.