Didier Burkhalter

Who is Didier Burkhalter?

Didier Burkhalter is a Swiss politician of FDP.The Liberals. He is the President of the Swiss Confederation for the year 2014. He was elected as member of the Swiss Federal Councilon 16 September 2009, and succeeded Pascal Couchepin on 1 November 2009 when he became head of the Federal Department of Home Affairs. On 16 December 2011, the Federal Council announced that as of 1 January 2012, Burkhalter will head the Department of Foreign Affairs.

A native of the Canton of Neuchâtel, Burkhalter was member of the parliament of the Canton of Neuchâtel from 1990 to 2001. At the same time, he was a member of Neuchâtel's city government and its mayor several times. From 2003 to 2007, Burkhalter was a member of the Swiss National Council. He has a degree in economics. Mr. Burkhalter is married to a native Austrian and father of three children.

On 11 November 2007, he was elected to the Council of States, along with Social Democratic Party candidate Gisèle Ory, who was re-elected for a second term. Pierre Bonhôte, the other social democratic incumbent, was not re-elected. During the election campaign, Burkhalter was backed by the Liberal Party and the SVP/UDC, though the SVP/UDC scarcely endorsed him publicly.