Switzerland Today
Greetings from Lausanne!
Winter's here with a vengeance. It's freezing cold, snowing and there's black ice on the roads. Inside, we're checking the thermostat, putting on woolly jumpers and lighting fires.
Will there really be an energy crunch this winter? How bad is the situation? Today, the Federal Office of Energy presented its new energy dashboard - an online portal that gives lots of juicy details on how much electricity and gas we are using. I'm not sure I'm any wiser or reassured, especially as we're told the data is incomplete. Watch this space!
In the news: Holcim and Russia, trust in science and a jihadist trial.
- Swiss cement giant Holcimsaid today it would leave Russia, adding that the business there would then operate independently under a different brand. The group first deconsolidated its Russian unit and announced it would leave the country in March, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
- The Swiss railway vehicle manufacturer Stadler is to deliver more than 530 sleeping cars for the Kazakh Railways worth CHF2.3 billion.
- The Swiss have a strong interest and trust in science. According to a surveyExternal link by the University of Zurich, 59% said their faith in science was high or very high, while 67% agreed that it improves people’s lives.
- At the trial of a Swiss-Turkish man who fatally stabbed a man in Morges in 2020 in an alleged “jihadist–motivated” attack, the prosecutor has demandedExternal link the suspect be given an 18-year jail sentence. The trial continuesExternal link.
Will Switzerland face electricity and gas shortages?
Switzerland has been preparing for extreme scenarios in the event of possible energyshortages this winter. The government has presented a step-by-step plan outlining emergencymeasures that it wants to implement if there are serious shortages.
The drastic plan has come in for heavy criticism from the cantons. They say it includes incoherent criteria and too many bans and restrictions.
On Wednesday the Federal Office of Energy launched an online “energy dashboardExternal link” that allows people to follow the latest energy supply situation.
So should we be worried? Gas supplies from Russia to the West are currently severely restricted, but the supply of natural gas and electricity to Switzerland are both “guaranteed” although the situation is “tense”, says the dashboardExternal link.
Despite the favourable position, electricity import restrictions in neighbouring countries could lead to restrictions in supply for Switzerland during the winter, it adds. The situation in France, from whom it imports electricity, remains uncertain.
The war in Ukraine continues to have an impact on the overall supply of natural gas to Europe. But Switzerland’s supply is secure mainly thanks to increased liquid natural gas (LNG) imports and increased production by Norway.
However, the project leader behind the portal says the available data is incomplete and should be handled carefully. It should be updated in the coming weeks.
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ETH Zurich launches new security robotics research with Swiss army.
The Alpine nation is well known for its watches, chocolate and pharmaceutical industry. But in recent years Switzerland has also become a leader inresearch into robotics.
In a new development, the federal technology institute ETH Zurich and the Swiss army procurement agency Armasuisseannounced today the launch of a five-year security robotics research programme worth CHF2.5 million ($2.7 million).
The two have already worked together on various robotics projects, including the four-legged ANYmal robot used for search and rescue operations, an autonomous digger for dangerous clearance work and drones to detect radioactive material.
The move into robotics has been a natural fit for a country that excels in high-end precision machinery and electronics. Today, the most popular robots are not made in Switzerland, but in Japan, Korea, China, Germany or the United States. Yet Switzerland is a world leader in robotics research, and the products made by Swiss start-ups are sold around the world.
The money for the latest research programme will be invested in projects that the “Swiss rescue and security forces could potentially use in unarmed missions”. Research into weapons systems is “explicitly prohibited”, ETH Zurich stressed.
Swiss robots exert a strong pullingpower with the public, as this video of the recent Swiss Robotics Days event in Lausanne testifies.
Switzerland and Germany adopt plan on irregular migration
In recent months growing numbers of migrants have entered Switzerland and Germany via the western Balkans and central Mediterranean migration routes. In Switzerland, every day, some 70 people disembark at Buchs station in canton St Gallen, which marks the eastern border with Austria. Over 20,000 irregular immigrants have passed through here since the beginning of the year.
Although applications for refugee status have increased with the outbreak of war in Ukraine, most of those arriving don’t have any desire to stay in Switzerland. They want to continue on to France or Britain.
An investigation at the beginning of October by Swiss public television, SRFExternal link, found that Switzerland was allowing migrants to transit to neighbouring countries instead of sending them back as demanded.
On Tuesday it was announced that Switzerland and Germany had adopted a plan on irregular migration.
Neighbours Switzerland and Germany want to combat the criminalsmugglingnetworks on both sides of the border and ensure the systematic implementation of returns, the Swiss justice ministry said in a statementExternal link. Cross-border search operations must be intensified, and greater use made of joint patrols to check rail traffic, it said.
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