Getting married and dying among eight Swiss topics that move the world

swissinfo.ch

This series gives you an overview of current Swiss debates, some of which have received attention far beyond the country's borders.

We at SWI swissinfo.ch report on Switzerland in ten languages. This means that we not only reach almost two million social media users worldwide, but also countless users of international media and blogs. This puts us close to the pulse of most Swiss issues that move the world.

From a multitude of mentions and links in September, we have gathered the obvious and the surprising, and we present them in this curated press review.

1. Swiss Passport for all?

The Swiss Democracy FoundationExternal link recently launched the Swiss Democracy Passport, a 48-page brochure with compact information and insights about Swiss democracy in texts, pictures and graphics. The passport, which has the patronage notably of Swiss foreign minister Ignazio Cassis, has nevertheless received some criticism – mainly because it virtually ignores the fact that until 50 years ago, Swiss women citizens were excluded from any democratic decisions.

Women were also legally discriminated against compared to men in other important areas of life. For example, wives were only allowed to work with the consent of their husbands.

The authors of the passport have taken the criticism on board, and in the second edition will focus more on the 123-year exclusion of women – the majority of the population – from Swiss male democracy.

Nevertheless, it is in a sense spectacular that there is a “Swiss passport for all”. At the same time, it is an interesting instrument for raising awareness of direct democracy.

👉Charter97External link (Russian)
👉AlbayanExternal link (Arabic)
👉MC DoualiyaExternal link (Arabic)
👉SudafaxExternal link (Arabic)
👉Alwatan NewsExternal link (Arabic)
👉Akhbar AlkhaleejExternal link (Arabic)

2. Marriage for all

Even in the run-up to the vote on marriage for all, there was a great deal of interest in our reporting.  

What is taken for granted in Switzerland is often astonishing when viewed from the outside: Swiss voters can vote on such key issues – and in this case, for outsiders, they produced an astonishingly clear result.

Russian-language media were particularly interested in the fact that Olga Baranova, who has a Russian migration history, was quoted in an English-language report.

👉e-newsExternal link (Russian)
👉The VillageExternal link (Ukrainian)
👉Ghana MMAExternal link (English)
👉UPIExternal link (English)
👉o SulExternal link (Portuguese)
👉Polêmica ParaibaExternal link (Portuguese)
👉tele sistemaExternal link (Spanish)
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👉Jornal FloripaExternal link (Portuguese)
👉yahoo!actualitésExternal link (French)
👉Felipe VieiraExternal link (Portuguese)
👉Courrier internationalExternal link (French)
👉Russkie VestiExternal link (Russian)

3. Dying in Switzerland

Besides watches, chocolate and mountains, Switzerland is also known internationally for its very liberal attitude towards euthanasia. In the Japanese-speaking world, for example, an article portraying a Japanese woman who wants to end her life in Switzerland has been widely read and discussed for some time.

The same author now accompanied a Japanese man who wanted to die on his last journey to Switzerland.

Because it is a very intimate report, it did not find resonance in many media, but was discussed and shared en masse on our Japanese-language Facebook page.

👉menéameExternal link

4. Life on Mars?

Based on Switzerland’s leading science location and its contribution to the international Mars mission, we organised a live online debate in spring. Astrophysicist Sylvia Ekström, who took part in the conversation at the time, wrote an article for us in which she and her research partner Javier G. Nombela put forward the thesis that no human being would ever set foot on Mars.

The article was widely quoted in reports contrasting the euphoria of Elon Musk, for example, with a little more realism. For example, a longer quote from our article is introduced below with the subtitle “Go to Mars and die”.

👉  ScoopExternal link (English)
👉  PravdaExternal link (English)
👉  Srilanka GuardianExternal link (English)
👉  Counter PunchExternal link (English)

5. Crimes against humanity?

Franco-Swiss cement company Lafarge-Holcim could face charges of crimes against humanity over its dealings in Syria, according to a ruling by France’s highest appeals court.

This news in English and Arabic caused an enormous stir, especially in the Turkish media.

👉Yeni SafakExternal link (Turkish)
👉Haber 7External link (Turkish)
👉PSM MagExternal link (Turkish)
👉En Son HaberExternal link (Turkish)
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👉Akit TVExternal link (Turkish)
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👉AydinpostExternal link ((Turkish)
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👉HürriyetExternal link (Turkish)
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👉Beyaz GazeteExternal link (Turkish)
👉TRT HaberExternal link (Turkish)
👉SabahExternal link (Turkish)
👉AAExternal link (Turkish)
👉Son DakikaExternal link (Turkish)
👉StarExternal link (Turkish)
👉War News UpdatesExternal link (English)

6. Debate over the WHO

When Switzerland is discussed in the international media, it appears relatively often in connection with the international organisations based in Geneva. For this reason, “International Geneva” is a focal point of our reporting.

Since the outbreak of the pandemic, reports from Geneva have been very frequent because of the World Health Organization (WHO). Not only is it considered the global pace-setter in dealing with the Covid crisis, but it is also repeatedly the subject of controversy over its role, structure and funding. And so it has been again recently.

A major Egyptian news portal quoted Antoine Flahault, Director of the Institute for Global Health at the University of Geneva, in its coverage from our article.

👉Roayah NewsExternal link (Arabic)

7. Swiss Covid-certificate debate

For a long time, there was a great deal of uncertainty among travellers to Switzerland – and especially among Swiss living abroad – about which vaccinations would earn them a Swiss Covid certificate. Every piece of news on this topic met with great demand – especially the following explainer: 

The most conclusive information to date on who gets a Swiss Covid certificate, and why, was not only diligently shared and discussed on social media, but also picked up by various international media.

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👉Back ChinaExternal link (Chinese)
👉China PressExternal link (Chinese)
👉L’AlscaceExternal link (French)
👉DNAExternal link (French)

8. Voting rights for foreigners

In French-speaking Switzerland in particular, there is already a right of foreigners to vote at communal level, sometimes even in cantonal referenda. In German-speaking Switzerland, proposals with the same concern often have a difficult time. This is probably mainly because in French-speaking Switzerland the right to vote is seen as part of the integration process, whereas in German-speaking Switzerland it is seen as the crowning achievement of naturalisation.

Our short news report that voters in canton Solothurn rejected by a large majority the proposal for voting rights for foreigners at the municipal level was picked up by subsequent online portals because we also published it in Russian.

👉SegodnyaExternal link (Russian)
👉SegodnyaExternal link (Ukrainian)

Press review monitoring
Every mention of ‘Swissinfo’ is sent to our mailbox via an online alert. This does not include ‘Swiss Info’, ‘Swiss Broadcast’ or other adaptations. It is also possible that contributions behind a ‘hard’ paywall do not generate any messages. Newsletters and the like can often not be scanned either.
It is therefore all the more important that you draw our attention to mentions of SWI in international media.
So it is all the more important that you draw our attention to mentions of SWI in international media🙏