Over 5,000 Army Personnel at Work to Secure WEF Meet

Davos: As the WEF's Annual Meeting begins today, Swiss Armed Forces have deployed 5,000 personnel to secure this remote town that has a population of about 10,000 and will host over 2,500 of the global elite through this week.

The armed forces' operation here includes protecting facilities and individuals, safeguarding air sovereignty, securing Swiss airspace, and with logistics, primarily through its Coordinated Medical Services (CMS), the Swiss Army said.

"Up to 5,000 armed forces personnel are serving in this civil affairs mission, from January 12-26, 2015," it said in an update on its WEF operations.

At the request of the authorities of the Graubunden region, where Davos is located over 5,000 miles above the sea level as the highest and one of the most remote towns of Europe, the Army has taken several security measures to ensure security during the WEF Summit.

One measure is to restrict the use of both airspace and airfields in the Davos area till January 25, 2015.

The armed forces will assist the civilian authorities of the Canton of Graubunden in their security measures to protect the annual WEF meeting, on which millions of dollars are estimated to be spent.

The armed forces have been deployed to protect infrastructure (transport, and electricity and water supplies), carry out air policing missions in Swiss airspace, and assist the civilian authorities in logistics, command support and coordinated medical services.

Armed forces personnel, who will be engaged based on the Ordinance on the Police Powers of the Armed Forces, are however not be involved in maintaining public order and that remains a police responsibility.

The Chief of the Armed Forces Joint Staff, Major General Jean-Marc Halter, has been appointed commanding officer for this armed forces civil support operation in protection of the 2015 WEF meeting.

During the WEF meeting, the Command Support is ensuring communication between the security services of the cantonal police force and the armed forces. This network includes the police radio systems and air surveillance radar.

The establishment of the networks in Davos began in December 2014 itself to allow the task forces to carry out extensive tests before the Forum opened its doors.

The networks are being monitored round the clock.

For airspace protection, air traffic over Switzerland, Austria, Liechtenstein and Italy will be restricted within a radius of 25 nautical miles (about 46 km) from the centre of Davos.

Approaches to and take-offs from regional aerodromes and heliports are subject to specific rules and procedures which the Air Force has devised in cooperation with the Swiss Federal Office of Civil Aviation.

Flights outside pre-defined routes and flights to Davos are subject to authorisation as well and will only be permitted for pilots and aircraft that have been accredited beforehand.

After accreditation has been granted, a request for each flight needs to be submitted to the Air Force.

The Swiss Air Force is supporting the civilian authorities with transport and surveillance flights, using their helicopters, propeller planes and fighter jets. A considerable increase in military air traffic and noise emission in some areas outside the region is also expected.

Such restrictions apply not only to helicopters and aeroplanes, but also to all airspace users, including model airplanes, drones, hang gliders and para-gliders. The local police has issued special restrictions for this purpose.

The additional costs to the public authorities for security at the WEF Annual Meeting amount to a total of around 8 million Swiss francs. This amount is shared between the partners, with anton Graubunden at CHF 2 million, Davos at one million, the Swiss Confederation three million and WEF two million, as per the Swiss Armed Forces.

On the basis of the accounts for armed forces deployment at past WEF Annual Meetings, the cost of providing civil support duties amounts to around CHF 28.8 million and the costs are expected to remain within approved credit limit this year.

The WEF Annual Meeting generates significant direct and indirect economic effects for Davos, Graubunden and Switzerland as a whole.

As per a study, it generated additional turnover in 2001 of around CHF 42 million, of which over half benefited the canton of Graubunden; for Davos alone the figure was around CHF 23 million.