Maintaining security for more than 50 heads of state and government is not an easy matter, and Switzerland has deployed up to 4,000 soldiers to do so.
The security arrangements the luxury Bürgenstock resort, near Lucerne. for the Summit for Peace in Ukraine are immense.
Soldiers have taken position at the multiple checkpoints set up on the winding roads leading up to the resort.
And around 6.5 kilometres of fencing and eight kilometres of barbed wire have been installed around the perimeter.
To protect the more than 50 heads of state including French President Emmanuel Macron, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and US Vice President Kamala Harris, up to 4,000 soldiers have been deployed, said Viola Amherd, the president of the Swiss confederation during a press conference held on Monday.
“An event on this scale requires comprehensive protective measures,” Swiss President Viola Amherd said ahead of the summit.
In addition, a temporary military heliport has been set up in the middle of a field to allow take-offs and landings of the different delegations.
The Bürgenstock Hotel has a long history of high-level political meetings and its isolated mountaintop location provides an extra layer of security.
The swanky resort had hosted previous peace talks on Sudan in 2002 and Cyprus in 2004.
Threats of cyberattacks and disinformation
The threats are not only physical but also include cyberattacks and disinformation surrounding the event.
Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis said there was “an obvious interest in disturbing the smooth running of the conference.”
The first wave of distributed denial-of-service attacks (DDoS) on government websites began on Thursday.
DDoS attacks aim to overload websites with a large number of requests. The data volume usually cannot be handled by a single organisation causing the website and computer system to crash.
More attacks are expected during the weekend, according to the Swiss National Cyber Security Centre.
How have locals been impacted?
More than 400 residents with homes and farms beyond the checkpoints need a special pass to access the zone.
According to the Swiss news website Watson, some residents have expressed their frustration with the organisation of the conference.
“No one has asked us our opinion,” said a woman. “That damn noise all the time”, also exclaimed another resident, after the passage of a helicopter.
