Switzerland Today
Dear Swiss Abroad,
Before making a major purchase, to avoid any nasty surprises, it is best to check that the promised “fixed price” is not misleading and that it is set out in black and white in the contract. I consider this sound advice, applicable to a wide range of expenses, from holiday packages… to fighter jets.
Despite repeated claims to the contrary, a fixed price was never negotiated with the United States for the purchase of F-35 fighter jets for the Swiss Armed Forces. This is the conclusion of a report by a House of Representatives control committee. The revelation has sparked angry reactions from both the right and the left.
“It is now officially confirmed,” writes the Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ). “Those in charge have, at least in part, scuppered the most expensive arms deal in Swiss history.” The Zurich-based newspaper points out that, after the defence ministry announced in 2021 that it had opted to purchase US F-35s – choosing them over aircraft such as the French Rafale – it soon became apparent that costs could turn out to be higher than anticipated, even exceeding the CHF6 billion ($7.42 billion) credit approved by voters in a 2020 referendum. Since then, the alleged “fixed price” has been mentioned at every press conference on the matter, but the term does not appear in any binding document signed with Washington.
The report criticises former Defence Minister Viola Amherd as well as the former head of the Air2030 project, Darko Savic. Both left their respective posts in spring 2025, before the extent of the cost overruns became clear.
Speaking to Swiss public broadcaster RTS, Swiss People’s Party parliamentarian Jean-Luc Addor expressed outrage at “the lie” and demanded that those responsible be held to account. Social Democratic Party Senator Carlo Sommaruga described the situation as a “total fiasco” and called for the purchase of the jets to be halted entirely. Radical-Liberal Party parliamentarian Simone de Montmollin spoke of “naivety” and “amateurism”, noting that parliament will need to investigate the matter further and obtain clear information.
In Switzerland, rents fall when an asylum centre opens nearby. A new study quantifies this phenomenon and, for the first time, reveals a direct link between the extent of the fall in rents and the skin colour of the people housed in the centre.
When a reception centre opens, rents fall by an average of 3.8%. After it closes, they return to normal levels, Tamedia publications report today, citing research carried out by the universities of Lausanne and Lugano.
“We found no statistical evidence that the crime rates or religious affiliations of people housed in asylum reception centres had any impact on prices,” says co-author Marius Brülhart, professor of economics at the University of Lausanne. “Only one characteristic played a role: skin colour.”
In centres with an above-average proportion of asylum-seekers from sub-Saharan Africa, rents fell by 4.2%, while in centres with a below-average proportion, the fall was only 3%. In 2025, the most common sub-Saharan countries of origin among asylum-seekers were Eritrea, Somalia and Ethiopia. “This data suggests that a considerable proportion of the price variations is based on racist prejudice,” adds Brülhart.
A memorial to the victims of Nazism is to be built on the terrace of the Casino Bern by the end of 2027. The initiative for its creation was launched in 2018 during the Congress of the Swiss Abroad, and yesterday Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis presented the winning design.
The project is called “Unfolded Minute”. It consists of a metal wall 55 metres long and around two metres high, symbolising Switzerland’s national border. It will take about 60 seconds to walk the full length of the structure, which, at irregular intervals, will play a one-minute melody, each time different thanks to engravings in the metal. Each “musical minute” is intended to pay tribute to a different anonymous victim of Nazism.
Cassis said that, since the end of the Second World War, more than 60 memorial sites have been created in Switzerland through private initiatives. However, the country has so far lacked a national memorial dedicated to all victims of the Holocaust and Nazi persecution.
Should teenagers be banned from using social media? The Swiss public takes a hard line on the issue, writes the Watson news portal, with almost nine out of ten people supporting such a ban.
In a poll conducted by Demoscope on behalf of Watson, 67% of those surveyed said they were in favour of a ban, while 20% were somewhat in favour. The main concern cited was the mental health of the younger generation (86%), followed by the risk of addiction (83%) and uncontrolled access to disinformation and harmful content (78%).
At what age should social media use be permitted? The most popular answer, given by just over 40%, is 16. This is a milestone age for teenagers in Switzerland, when they are permitted to drink beer in most cantons, ride a scooter or watch films with more mature content at the cinema.
Discussions on the issue have already begun in parliament, and the politicians interviewed by Watson agree that something needs to be done, although the debate is more nuanced. Rather than a simple ban, the prevailing view seems to be that the content on the platforms themselves needs to be regulated. Australia, as some parliamentarians point out, recently banned social media for under-16s, but the ban is easily circumvented and risks pushing young people towards spaces that are even harder to monitor.
Translated from Italian, sub-edited by Alexandra MV Andrist/ts
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