Picture of pilots and political leaders with Swiss flag

Switzerland Today

Dear Swiss Abroad,

Today marks a day of firsts. A Swiss pilot has unveiled plans for a round-the-world tour using a hydrogen plane. Meanwhile, Nestlé Waters directors have admitted mistakes in the treatment of Henniez bottled water since the scandal broke out. And the first Romanian Orthodox women’s monastery in the country could be involved with a global car company.

Keep reading today's briefing to discover more.

This content was published on February 7, 2024 - 18:00

4 minutes

Born and raised in Italy, Sara lived in the UK for a few years and then moved to Bern. As a multimedia journalist she loves to listen to people’s stories and bring news to social media, especially about human rights and climate change.

Picture of a person in a black hood in front of a computer — © Keystone

In the news: frozen Russian assets to rebuild Ukraine, China’s involvement in peace talks and record number of cyberattacks in Bern.

Swiss President Viola Amherd met Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas in Tallinn and discussed using frozen Russian assets for the reconstruction of Ukraine. If the European Union and G7 reach an agreement on a law to use these assets to rebuild Ukraine, Switzerland should also consider adopting one, said Amherd.
Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis said he hoped China would “give us a hand” in Ukraine peace talks, after Switzerland last month agreed to host a global peace summit on Ukraine.
Last year alone 23 million cyberattacks were carried out on the city of Bern, the Swiss capital’s mayor, Alec von Graffenried, said before the start of this year’s Swiss Cyber Security Days (SCSD).

Picure of person s hand holding a bottle of Nestlé water — Keystone / Laurent Gillieron

Switzerland’s most consumed bottled water filtered with activated carbon: Nestlé directors admit mistakes.

At the end of last month, French prosecutors opened an investigation into potential fraudulent practices in the treatment of mineral water by Nestlé Waters. Shortly afterwards, the scandal hit Switzerland too.

It was revealed that Henniez mineral water had been treated with filters that did not meet current standards. The process was discovered in 2020, but only dismantled in 2022. Nestlè managers finally addressed the issue in an interview with the Swiss newspaper 24heuresExternal link.

“Everything that has been done has always been with the intention of ensuring food safety and, consequently, protecting consumers. This perhaps excessive, concern for quality caused us to lose sight of the regulatory framework until these filtration systems were declared non-compliant,” said Eugenio Simioni, director of Nestlé Switzerland.

The directors admitted that it had been a “mistake to use those filters in Henniez”, but will this be enough to avoid consumer mistrust?

Picture of two pilots speaking to journalists — Keystone / Jean-christophe Bott

After setting world records with the first round-the-world solar flight, a Swiss pilot plans a hydrogen-powered world tour in just nine days.

Jules Verne’s Around the world in eighty days became one of the most famous adventure novels of the 19th century. Over 150 years later, a faster – and greener – feat is set to exceed the French writer’s dreams.

Swiss pilot Bertrand Piccard announced today that he wants to fly a hydrogen-powered aircraft around the globe in just nine days. His new “Climate Impulse” project is scheduled for 2028 and is inspired by Piccard’s desire to show that environmentally friendly adventures and technologies can be both exciting and promising. “I want to show that we now have everything in our hands to transition away from fossil fuels,” he said.

This is not Piccard’s first plane adventure. He made history in 2016, alongside fellow pilot André Borschberg (photo above), with Solar Impulse, a Swiss solar aircraft, completing the first-ever flight around the world in a solar plane. It was an unforgettable trip for the two adventurers and for observers from around the world, as the historic flight covered more than 40,000 km without a single drop of jet fuel.

Picture of nuns praying — Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved

Praying for the good of the world while running a global car company: the mysterious double life of a Romanian abbess in Switzerland.

Did you know that hidden away in a remote corner of Gruyère, in western Switzerland, is the first and only Romanian Orthodox women’s monastery in the country?

While this idyllic setting might inspire notions of tranquility and serenity, think again. An article by Swiss newspaper Tages-AnzeigerExternal link revealed that the abbess, known as Sister Antonia, appears with her real name in the commercial registers of Switzerland and France for the BCCH Group Switzerland AG. The company is involved in car trading and property transactions, and according to the registers, Sister Antonia has been running the company since 2019.

When asked for clarification, the abbess denied any connection with the company. However, Tages-Anzeiger reports that the French registers show that Sister Antonia still owns some shares in the company. In Romania, BCCH declared a turnover of over 36 million Romanian Leu (CHF 6.7 million).

Sister Antonia’s name was then removed from the Swiss commercial register at the end of 2023. Is this just a coincidence? Can she reconcile highly lucrative business activities with the monastic vow of poverty?