The week in Switzerland
Dear Swiss Abroad,
Is the world currently a bit too exciting? “We could do with a little more boredom,” reckoned former Swiss government minister Alain Berset on Wednesday. Berset, now the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, said the succession of crises across Europe was “destroying the prospects” of young people and was undermining confidence in democratic systems.
With a year to go before federal elections, the right-wing Swiss People’s Party is stronger than ever. Yet its dominance also brings challenges and potential risks, writes my colleague Balz Rigendinger in an analysis.
On December 9, parliament will elect a new member of the seven-person Federal Council to replace Economics Minister Guy Parmelin, 66. For weeks the People’s Party, which in polls enjoys about 30% of the vote, struggled to find anyone willing to step up. “The country’s largest party seems completely overwhelmed,” wrote Le Temps.
Eight candidates have now been named, but many of the party’s leading figures have declined to stand. Above all, only two of the eight are from French-speaking Switzerland, which traditionally has had at least two seats in government. Parmelin is one of two.
Céline Amaudruz, 47, from Geneva is the only woman on the list, but she apparently enjoys little sympathy among the Zurich party leadership and her background in Geneva’s financial sector arouses suspicion. Her only rival from French-speaking Switzerland is Pierre-Alain Schnegg, a 63-year-old member of an evangelical church.
“If no one from French-speaking Switzerland makes it onto the ticket – or if Pierre-Alain Schnegg is included merely as a token gesture – the People’s Party runs the risk of alienating the whole of French-speaking Switzerland,” says political scientist Sean Müller.
The new Federal Councillor could therefore face a particularly delicate task: mending the rifts caused by their election within their own party.
Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis headed to North and South Korea on Thursday for a three-day visit. He is the first government minister to visit North Korea since 2003.
In the capital Pyongyang he was set to attend the reopening of Switzerland’s diplomatic office, which has been operational since October 19. The reason for the timing of the reopening is that North Korea is gradually resuming its diplomatic contacts with other countries “after several years of isolation”, the foreign ministry said.
It was not known whether an official meeting with leader Kim Jong-un would take place. Instead, Cassis was due to meet the North Korean Foreign Minister, Choe Son-hui, and a representative of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea. The resumption of bilateral consultations between the two foreign ministries was also set to be discussed.
Switzerland has maintained diplomatic relations with North Korea since 1974 and has engaged in regular political dialogue since 2003. The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) opened an office in Pyongyang in 1997.
Former Swiss president and current Secretary General of the Council of Europe Alain Berset says the succession of crises across Europe is “destroying the prospects” of young people.
In the face of the wave of protests sweeping the continent, Berset defended the right to protest while strongly condemning the violence. Speaking to Swiss public broadcaster RTS on Wednesday, Berset said the contrast with young people of 20 or 25 years ago was striking: they had the impression that “an avenue was opening up before them, offering prospects, plans and opportunities for personal development”.
He said today’s youth faced “a continent where war has returned, in Ukraine – not to mention the war in Iran, violations of international law almost everywhere, the climate crisis, the pandemic from which we have emerged, and artificial intelligence, which some say could destroy us”. This accumulation of threats “destroys prospects” and undermines “confidence in democratic systems”.
Faced with these crises, Berset expressed a wish that may come as a surprise. “We must return to something wiser, something a little more boring. I miss a world that is a little more boring. We could do with a little more boredom.”
The illustrious career of Stan Wawrinka, the second-greatest player in the history of Swiss men’s tennis, finally came to an end on Tuesday at his home tournament in Basel.
“Stan the Man”, “Stanimal” was beaten by eighth-seeded Jiri Lehecka in the first round of the Swiss Indoors. “I’m sad, but I’m smiling,” Wawrinka, 41, said after the match.
Lausanne-born Wawrinka announced last year he would retire at the end of the 2026 season, 24 years after turning professional. His powerful game – he was widely considered to have one of the best backhands ever – resulted in three grand slam titles (the 2014 Australian Open, the 2015 French Open and the 2016 US Open) in an era with four of the best players ever: Rafa Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and fellow Swiss Roger Federer, with whom he won Olympic doubles gold in 2008. Wawrinka also played a key part in Switzerland’s first Davis Cup title in 2014.
“All I wanted in my career was to give everything, to have no regrets, to always fight, to always give 100% in every match – out of respect for myself, for the opponent, for the tournament, for the fans, for everybody,” Wawrinka told the ATP website.
Sub-edited by ac
The week ahead
Bob Dylan, the American singer-songwriter, poet and Nobel Prize winner in Literature, is set to perform at Zurich’s Hallenstadion on Sunday.
A national conference of the manosphere will be held in Bern on Monday.
On Tuesday the IKEA Home Monitor will present “How Switzerland lives and keeps things tidy”.
This year’s four-day Youth Session begins in the federal parliament in Bern on Thursday. Some 200 people aged 14-21 will discuss various topics.
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