Switzerland Today
Dear Swiss Abroad,
When I was in high school, Federal Council elections were a big deal. There was the thrill of having a television rolled into the classroom and maybe even a surprise result thrown in like the election of Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf instead of Christoph Blocher, who was in office at the time.
Today, Federal Council elections seem to be more predictable, write the Swiss media. Find out why in this briefing.
Have a good read!
The carousel of candidates looking to succeed Guy Parmelin in the Federal Council continues to spin and the Swiss media are riding it for all its worth.
The NZZ asks, for example, what happened to the “nights of the long knives”.
“Unlike in the past, Federal Council elections are predictable today because the parties agree in advance,” the newspaper writes. Incidentally, the origin of the candidate ticket that is common today lies in the introduction of the magic formula in 1959.
Blick and the Tages-Anzeiger chose to focus on the question of motherhood. Parliamentarian Céline Amaudruz from Geneva is considered a possible candidate to succeed Parmelin and is the mother of two children. This has launched a debate about the compatibility of the role of mother and the Federal Council. In an opinion article, the Tages-Anzeiger notes that this discussion is a mockery, especially for “parents who suffer from high daycare costs and complex family logistics”.
SRF is currently taking a closer look at current and former members of Federal Council. Or rather their sporting credentials. While Justice Minister Beat Jans can be found on the football pitch, Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter visits the boxing gym. Former government minister Adolf Ogi started his day with a run while in office while Ueli Maurer, as a former major and commander of a cyclist battalion, made cycling his passion.
At the beginning of November, there will be a new biometric identity card for Swiss citizens, which corresponds to the biometric Swiss passport in terms of security standards and stored data.
However, there is no need to apply for a new biometric ID immediately. According to the government, it offers greater protection against abuse and to ensure that Swiss citizens can travel easily within the EU – especially as part of the update of the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons. However, a long transitional period is planned. Anyone who has a valid ID without a chip can continue to use it for travel in the EU/Schengen area until its expiry date. For new applications from November, however, the government recommends the biometric model for trips abroad.
A digital photo and two fingerprints are stored on the data chip, as well as the information already visible on the card, such as name, date of birth or document number. Anyone wishing to apply for a biometric identity card can do so at the cantonal passport office or at Swiss representations abroad.
By the way, the biometric ID is not to be confused with the e-ID. The latter is used exclusively to identify oneself in the digital world and is not a travel document. e-ID will be available from next year.
Government’s figures confirm that cases of reported cybercrimes are increasing. Last week, for example, data was leaked from the federal pension fund Publica and the auction platform Ricardo. Now fraudsters are targeting the insured.
The new trend was reported on today by the newspapers of CH Media. A week ago, for example, a retired construction worker from Central Switzerland was contacted by telephone. He did not share any sensitive data because he had already been warned. The Foundation for Flexible Retirement in the Construction Industry (Far) had previously informed him and around 20,000 other pensioners about a cyber attack.
The federal pension fund Publica also leaked sensitive data from insured persons in a cyber attack. Here, too, all potentially affected parties were informed, according to Publica. “But not all affected pension funds are as proactive as the federal pension fund,” write the CH Media newspapers. Others are more cautious both about the damage and in their information policy.
As an example, CH Media cites customers of PK Softech, including the Migros pension fund. The pension fund sees no reason to act “Whether and to what extent data of insured persons of the Migros pension fund could be affected by a data leak is currently the subject of investigations,” it says. Those affected will be informed, those responsible promise.
Why is the federal pension fund so active in alerting pensioners, while others remain rather calm, asks CH Media. The newspaper’s conclusion: “It may be that the difference can be explained by different communication philosophies.”
Elie Feller is a social media phenomenon from Biel who lives in Berlin. His self-deprecating reels about Switzerland and Germany regularly go viral.
The Biel native emigrated to Berlin six years ago, where he is currently working on his career as a “social media all-rounder”. The 30-year-old has over 70,000 followers on Instagram, and easily over 65,000 on the TikTok platform.
“My characters are mostly based on people I’ve met – and my videos are based on experiences,” Feller told the Berner Zeitung. Feller’s characters vary. Sometimes he plays the anti-authoritarian Bernese hippie father, sometimes the Berlin drug dealer – in Swiss German, High German and French.
The move to Berlin seems to have been the right choice for Feller’s career. He has been better able to try new things since basing himself there.
“In Biel, I always had the feeling that people would judge me if I posted stupid videos,” he says. However, the Swiss don’t seem to find his posts stupid. According to Instagram statistics, they make up around 60% of his followers.
Translated from German, sub-edited by Anand Chandrasekhar
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