Switzerland Today
Dear Swiss Abroad,
What is the World Economic Forum (WEF)? Who is behind the Swiss foundation and its annual elite Davos summit, which runs until Friday? Every year journalists dig into the story about the Geneva-based non-profit and its founder and chair Klaus Schwab, who has run WEF for 52 years.
The future of the WEF and 82-year-old Mr Davos are at the centre of two new interesting articles (Mutiny erupts among WEF staff over role of ‘Mr Davos’ and ‘Succession’ has nothing on Davos: Elite conclave mulls next leader) which have input from current and former WEF staff members, partners and officials.
Here are some other stories from Switzerland on Wednesday, January 18, 2023.
In the news: anti-WEF demo, embattled Swiss president, pricy cars, US-China meeting in Zurich.
- Alain Berset, who holds the rotating Swiss presidency this year, says he is ready to face parliamentarians’ questions over allegations of leaks from his office to the media during the Covid-19 pandemic.
- Around 400 people took part in a demonstration in Zurichagainst the World Economic Forum (WEF), which is currently holding its annual summit in Davos.
- The US and China’s top economic officials met each other today in Zurich, rekindling in-person diplomacy after a three-year hiatus because of the pandemic. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He met for what they said would be “frank” talks, but both pledged to manage their differences and find ways to work together on global challenges.
- Limited supplies and rising energy costs have led to recordprices for new and used vehicles in Switzerland. The respective prices increased by 9% and 15% in 2022, compared to the previous year, the Autoscout24 platform reported on Wednesday. In 2022, a new car cost on average CHF55,982, or CHF4,800 more than in 2021.
- ZurichZoo has published the first results of an autopsy on a male elephant which died soon after birth at the weekend. Certain organs such as the heart and lungs were not properly developed, the zoo wrote in a statement.
Which ski resorts offer the best value-for-money?
Soaring energy prices in the wake of the Ukraine war have been giving ski resort and ski lift managers grey hairs and have resulted in more expensiveliftpasses this winter.
A new NZZ reportExternal link compares price rises in Swissresorts and those in neighbouring Austria and southern Germany based on data published on the winter sports platform skiinfo.deExternal link.
According to the platform, the 50largestskiareas, which offer fixed prices for their day tickets, are on average 8% more expensive this winter. The biggest increase is in Germany (12%), followed by Austria (8%) and Switzerland (3%).
Ischgl/Samnaun in Austria saw the biggest increase (12%), followed by Garmisch, Arlberg and Sölden (10%) and Kitzbühel (9%). In Switzerland, Arosa did not raise its prices, while Davos lift passes rose by 3% and 4% in Saas-Fee.
Lift passes remain expensive in Switzerland, however. While the price of an average day ticket in large Swiss ski resorts has only risen by around CHF2 to CHF75 (€75), this is still well above prices in Austria. An average day ticket there costs €63; in Germany, a day ticket is on average €48.
The Verbier Quatre Vallées ski area (412km of slopes) in canton Valais (photo above) and Engadine-St Moritz (350km) in canton Graubünden offer the bestvalueformoney in terms of the number of kilometres of piste per euro. They were ahead of Austria’s SkiWelt Wilder Kaiser-Brixental and Ski Arlberg.
But the NZZ article concludes that lift pass prices are becoming very hard to compare due to “dynamic pricing” systems where prices vary depending on the time and day.
Swiss sniper fights in eastern Ukraine.
Avi Motola is a 47-year-old Swissman from canton Schaffhausen who has been based in eastern Ukraine as a sniper for the Ukrainianarmy. Swiss public TV, SRFExternal link, caught up with him during his down-time in Kyiv.
“My basic motivation has always been the same: I don’t want to see small children packed up in plastic bags anymore. If there is just one less because of my work, then it’s been worth it,” he told SRF.
Motola is one of many volunteers who have travelled to Ukraine as foreignfighters. Over 20,000 volunteered in the first weeks of the war. It is unclear how many there are now. Most come from former Soviet states such as Georgia, Lithuania or Estonia. But some also come from Western Europe or Israel.
Unlike many other countries, Swiss nationals are officially forbidden from serving in foreign armies. If caught, they couldbepunished with a three-year prison sentence in Switzerland. The Swiss military justice system is conducting proceedings against seven Swiss fighting in the Ukraine war, it confirmed to SRF.
Motola is critical of the Swisslaw: “I think it shows a great cowardice by a state. Soldiers from Germany, France, Italy and the US can return to their countries and they are thanked. I’m the only one to have to face some kind of repression.”
Before the war broke out he was living outside Switzerland, raising a family. He says his greatest sacrifice is leaving his four–year–oldson at home. “I ask myself every day, ‘What the hell am I doing here?’” he says.
“Many think that people like me come here to play war, to kill,” he says. “But I’m all about the civiliansIcansave. Ukrainians, especially in the countryside, are very kind-hearted and down-to-earth people. To be able to liberate them from the Russians – those were very moving missions.”
Employed by the Ukrainian army on a temporary basis, he plans to travel home in January to visit his son. Then he’ll probably return to Ukraine.
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