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Swiss foreign minister elected president
Swiss Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter was Wednesday elected president of the Alpine country for 2014, taking over from Defence Minister Ueli Maurer
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wiss Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter was Wednesdayelected president of the Alpine country for 2014, taking over from DefenceMinister Ueli Maurer.
The Swiss presidency rotates every year between the seven members of the country's cross-party cabinet, with the role of the head of state largely symbolic. Burkhalter, 53, is a member of the centre-right Liberal Radical Party and hails from the French-speaking region of Neuchatel.
The president is elected by the Swiss parliament, where Burkhalter received 183 out of 202 votes, underlining his strong support.
