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Government attacked over Schengen campaign

Pirmin Schwander fears Switzerland will lose sovereignty by signing up to Schengen Keystone

A eurosceptic group has launched a violent attack on the government over its support for the European Union Schengen/Dublin accords on security and asylum.

The Campaign for an Independent and Neutral Switzerland (CINS) on Saturday demanded that the government stop its pro-European “propaganda” and refrain from “muzzling” opponents.

The group held its annual meeting in Bern five weeks before the June 5 nationwide referendum on Swiss adherence to the Schengen and Dublin agreements.

On Friday the latest opinion poll carried out on behalf of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation showed 62 per cent of voters were in favour of the agreements.

The around 1,000 members present at the CINS meeting unanimously passed a resolution accusing the government of using “falsehoods and half-truths” to convince the electorate of the benefits of Schengen membership.

Police officers, border guards and other government officials had been prevented from speaking out against Schengen “in a way reminiscent of the former East Germany”, the resolution claimed.

It called on the government to “immediately stop this abuse of power” which was “burying Switzerland’s democracy”.

Open borders

In a personal attack on the foreign minister, Micheline Calmy-Rey, CINS head Hans Fehr accused her of “selling out Swiss independence”.

The group’s president, Pirmin Schwander, said the cabinet was determined to sign up to the Schengen Agreement “at all costs”.

Schwander warned that adherence would lead to a loss of Swiss sovereignty and to increased crime. The lifting of border controls would allow free access to the country to the 140,000 people turned away every year at the Swiss frontiers.

Adherence to Schengen would mean more and more decisions affecting life in Switzerland being taken in Brussels, said parliamentarian Oskar Freysinger.

He declared himself in favour of a watered-down version of the agreement – “Schengen Light” – which would allow Switzerland access to the EU police databank but retain border controls.

CINS is closely associated with the rightwing Swiss People’s Party. It was set up in 1986 by a leading figure in the party, Christoph Blocher, who is now the federal justice minister.

CINS and the People’s Party have led opposition to Schengen/Dublin and managed to raise enough signatures to force a referendum.

The CINS annual meeting coincided with a gathering in Bern of the New European Movement Switzerland. The pro-European group threw its weight behind Schengen/Dublin and a proposal to extend an accord on the free movement of people to the new EU countries.

swissinfo with agencies

The Campaign for an Independent and Neutral Switzerland (CINS) was set up in 1986 by members of the rightwing Swiss People’s Party.
Today it has almost 46,000 members.
Until 2004 its president was Christoph Blocher, now a government minister.
In 1992, it had its first major success when Swiss voters rejected Swiss membership of the European Economic Area.
CINS was instrumental in forcing a referendum on Schengen/Dublin, to be held next month.

The People’s Party collected 86,000 signatures by the end of March to force a referendum on the Schengen/Dublin agreements.

The nationwide vote will take place on June 5.

Schengen (security) and Dublin (asylum) form part of a second set of bilateral accords between Switzerland and the EU.

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