Switzerland wants to add the river Rhine port of Basel to the European Ports Alliance. + Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox Swiss Justice Minister Beat Jans said the move would be an “important building block” in the fight against organised crime. He met the relevant authorities in Belgium on Wednesday and Thursday. Jans gave three reasons for participating in the port alliance. Firstly, to strengthen exchange of information with other countries. Secondly, the participating members could exchange best practices. The third reason he cited was to create uniform standards. The cantons of Basel-City and Basel-Country are co-owners of the Swiss Rhine “Port of Switzerland”. Both cantons support joining the alliance. The European Port sAlliance has around 200 members, including around 50 harbours. Adapted from German by AI/mga How we work We select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools to translate them into English.