Federal Councilor Beat Jans visited the port of Antwerp in April to find out about the fight against cocaine smuggling and increasing organized crime in Europe.Image: keystone
July 15, 2026, 2:52 p.mJuly 15, 2026, 2:52 p.m
Switzerland has joined the European Port Alliance. The alliance aims to combat organized crime and drug trafficking in ports and maritime logistics.
A total of 28 states belong to the alliance: In addition to 26 EU member states, these also include Norway and Switzerland, as the European Commission wrote in a statement on Wednesday. Over 50 sea and river ports as well as industrial associations, the European Commission, European agencies such as Europol and the EU Drug Agency and the Council of the EU are part of it.
In April, Federal Councilor Beat Jans traveled to the port of Antwerp in Belgium together with the responsible government councilors from both Basel to examine whether the Swiss Rhine ports could join. The Rhine ports are owned by the cantons of Basel-Stadt and Basel-Landschaft and operate the Basel-Kleinhüningen BS, Birsfelden BL and Muttenz BL locations, as can be seen on their website. (sda)