Swiss perspectives in 10 languages

Swiss president condemns deadly attack in Vienna

Vienna
Gunmen reportedly opened fire at six locations near a synagogue in Vienna on Monday evening. Keystone / Roland Schlager

Simonetta Sommaruga, who holds the rotating Swiss presidency this year, has called for solidarity with Austria and France following attacks in both countries.

In a message posted to Twitter on Tuesday morning, Sommaruga said Switzerland condemned all forms of terrorism and violence. She said her thoughts were with the victims and their families as well as with all citizens of Austria and France.

“Our democratic and constitutional values of freedom and tolerance are our bulwark against barbarism,” she wrote.

The presidents of the Senate and the House of Representatives also expressed their solidarity and sympathy to the victims and their relatives in a joint tweet. They expressed “deep shock at the ideologically motivated act of violence”.

External Content

In Vienna gunmen reportedly opened fire at six locations near a synagogue on Monday evening. Five people died, including one of the attackers. Several people were seriously injured. Austrian Interior Minister Karl Nehammer described the dead gunman as an Islamist terrorist. The search for suspects is underway.

France has seen two deadly knife attacks in Paris and Nice in recent weeks. Both had suspected Islamist motives.

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR