News from Switzerland

Dear Swiss Abroad,

Tension is high on almost all fronts in Switzerland. On one side the strike at Geneva airport is set to continue into the weekend, leaving thousands of passengers frustrated and many employees angry about salaries. On the other, Swiss foreign relations are under pressure in Russia and Europe. And as if to top it all off - the wildfires in Canada are threatening Swiss glaciers.

Find out more about these and other stories in today’s briefing.  

© Keystone / Martial Trezzini

In the news: Geneva airport strikes, refugee housing and Russian ambassador’s comments on Swiss mediation.

• Passport control and security workers at Geneva airport have extended their strike action to cover the whole of Friday and Saturday. The walkout by around 1,000 airport staff over a pay dispute started at 4am on Friday but was initially due to end at 10am. The strike was later extended after talks with management broke down. All flights at Switzerland’s second-busiest airport were cancelled between 6am and 10am on Friday, affecting some 8,000 passengers. The impact of the strike extension on flights is unclear.
• Russia’s ambassador to Switzerland says Moscow cannot accept any Swiss-hosted peace summit on Ukraine after the Swiss joined European Union sanctions. In an interview with Swiss newspaper Le TempsExternal link, Sergei Garmonin added that Switzerland had lost its reputation for neutrality. He said that Swiss mediation between Moscow and Kyiv was “out of the question”, following Russia’s ranking of Switzerland as an “unfriendly” country in March 2022.
• The Swiss army and 26 cantons have been asked to find extra accommodation space for 3,000 refugees after parliament refused to approve federal funds to alleviate logjams. A special federal task force on asylum has called for the temporary beds to be made available between this September and February 2024.

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Could the fires in Canada contribute to the melting of glaciers in Switzerland?

Canada and Switzerland are over 7,000km apart, but when it comes to dangerous wildfires the two countries could be closer than what you might think.

The wildfires in Canada have been raging for over two months now and on June 29 the fumes reached Switzerland too. Although the plumes of smoke are not expected to descend in significant quantities to ground level, people are wondering how Switzerland could be affected.

“Wood smoke contains black carbon which accelerates the melting of snow and ice,” explains professor Athanasios Nenes Nenes, from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), in an interview with the Swiss newspaper BlickExternal link.

These carbon particles could have some positive effects once they reach the ground, because they could act as fertilisers. However, if they settle on frozen surfaces, they can accelerate the melting of snow and ice and this could worsen the fragile situation of Swiss glaciers, which are already under threat because of global warming.    

And if you thought that was it, think again. “These fumes that stay in the atmosphere for a few days tend to be very toxic,” says Nenes. When they reach ground level their toxicity increases, and smoke inhalation could cause inflammation in the body. Although Nenes doesn’t say we should stop burning wood altogether, “the warmer the planet gets, the more powerful and frequent the fires become.”

Keystone / Jean-christophe Bott

Knife violence: Switzerland launches a new campaign for young people.

When you think of Switzerland you probably don’t think about crime and violence, since expats often praise the Alpine country for its safety levels. Yet over the past few years knife violence has been on the rise.

In Basel and Zurich, authorities recently launched a prevention campaign for young people to raise awareness on the danger of carrying knives and make Swiss streets safer, reported Swiss public television SRFExternal link today.  

Last autumn, 8 out of 200 youngsters attending a fair in Basel were carrying a knife, according to local police. “Knowing that other young people might have a knife on them when they go out leads many young people to carry one themselves,” said Manuel Remy, co-director of Dreirosen youth centre in Basel.

As this vicious circle could end fatally, the authorities have launched a video campaign directly aimed at young people to show the possible consequences of carrying a knife. “Your mother doesn’t want you to go to jail,” is the campaign’s motto.

Despite agreeing on the importance of raising awareness on the issue, professor Dirk Baier told SRF that “miracles should not be expected from this campaign”. He teaches at the Institute of Delinquency and Crime Prevention at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW). “You can’t suddenly undo all the socialisation experiences of 15 years with a two-minute video,” he says.