Dalai Lama thanks Switzerland for support

Friday, April 09, 2010

Swissinfo.ch
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From left: Dr. Katrin Hagen (daughter of late Dr. Toni Hagen), Mrs. Sigrid Joss-Arnd, His Holiness and Dr. Arthur Bill

The Dalai Lama on Thursday met Pascale Bruderer, speaker of Switzerland’s House of Representatives, thanking her for the country’s 50 years of support for Tibet.

Bruderer told the Swiss News Agency after the meeting in canton Zurich her talk with the Buddhist spiritual leader was very interesting.

The meeting took place after a visit to the Tibetan Institute in the town of Rikon. The Swiss Tibetan association organised celebrations for around 400 guests and media representatives.

Exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama (C) greets supporters upon his arrival at the Tibetian Institut in the village of Rikon north of Zurich April 8, 2010.(Photo: Reuters)

Switzerland accepted the first Tibetan refugees 50 years ago.

The Dalai Lama said Tibetans had positively integrated into Switzerland. The country’s 4,000-strong Tibetan community is the largest in Europe.

The Dalai Lama will not meet Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey during his visit, which lasts until April 11. The foreign ministry cited scheduling conflicts.