Swiss conservative party seeks referendum against Eurovision contest
The small conservative party must collect 2,000 valid signatures by October 26 to force a referendum.
Keystone-SDA
Select your language
Generated with artificial intelligence.
Listening: Swiss conservative party seeks referendum against Eurovision contest
The Swiss Federal Democratic Union (EDU) is launching a referendum to prevent the Eurovision Song Contest from taking place in Basel from May 13 to 17, 2025. The party is collecting signatures to contest a loan granted by the Basel cantonal parliament.
This content was published on
2 minutes
Keystone-SDA
Deutsch
de
EDU ergreift Referendum gegen Eurovision Song Contest in Basel
Original
Daniel Frischknecht, president of the small, ultra-conservative EDU Switzerland, announced on Monday that the collection period had begun with the publication in the Basel-City cantonal gazette on Saturday.
The EDU is confident that “with the help of many Basel residents”, it will be able to bring about a referendum against the loan of CHF34.9 million ($41.3 million). This would allow the electorate of the canton of Basel-City to decide on the loan at the ballot box.
The loan was approved by the Basel cantonal parliament last Wednesday by 87 votes to 4, with 4 abstentions. The majority of all parliamentary groups were in favour. The government had requested the expenditure for various areas, such as infrastructure, security, rescue, transportation, accommodation, welcome activities and supporting events. The main venue will be the St. Jakobshalle.
In order for the referendum to take place, at least 2,000 certified signatures must be collected and submitted by October 26. The small Christian party had already announced earlier that it would launch a referendum against public spending on the “propaganda event”. According to the government council, a vote would take place on November 24.
Translated from German by DeepL/gw
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, if you want to learn more about how we use technology, click here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
Train vs plane: would you take a direct train between London and Geneva?
Eurostar is planning to run direct trains from Britain to Germany and Switzerland from the early 2030s. Would you favour the train over the plane? If not, why not?
Abbot of Saint-Maurice steps down following sex abuse report
This content was published on
Jean Scarcella has decided to step down as Abbot of Saint-Maurice in the Swiss canton of Valais, the abbey announced on Saturday.
Philipp Matthias Bregy named new president of Centre Party
This content was published on
Valais National Councillor Philipp Matthias Bregy is the new President of the Centre Party. The delegates elected him as the successor to Gerhard Pfister on Saturday in Bern without discussion.
Global call for active neutrality launched from Geneva
This content was published on
A number of players have launched a worldwide appeal for active neutrality in Geneva at a time when the major powers are taking a tougher line. The city is competing with Vienna to attract an international congress on this issue in 2026.
This content was published on
The M'Tongé gorilla has died at Basel Zoo at the age of 26. The dominant male had to be euthanised on Friday morning owing to a parasite infection.
This content was published on
Swiss Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter, who holds the rotating Swiss presidency this year, has been invited to Paris by French President Emmanuel Macron.
Swiss canton coordinates donations for landslide destroyed village
This content was published on
The Swiss canton of Valais to form committee to coordinate CHF 57.4 million donations for village destroyed by a landslide.
Body of Blatten landslide victim found and identified
This content was published on
The body of 64-year-old man, who has been missing since part of the Brich glacier collapsed on the Swiss village of Blatten has been found.
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.