Switzerland Today

Ciao from Bern,

Did we enter a parallel time-loop where Switzerland managed to win Euro 2020 after all? The beeping and fireworks around Swiss cities late last night – and well into the early morning – made it sound like it. Ma no ! It was the Alpine contingent of the tifosi, of course, celebrating their side's penalty shoot-out win against England, and Italy’s first European Championship victory since 1968.

In the end, Euro 2020 turned out a success both for quarter-finalists Switzerland and the country’s largest immigrant group (Italians make up some 15% of the 2.2 million foreigners in the country). When it comes to the next tournament, however, the Qatar World Cup in 2022, things are likely to be less amicable – as it turns out, Italy and Switzerland are both in the same qualifying group…

Keystone / Peter Klaunzer

In the news The end of football fever, the wacky weather continues

Here’s a short round-up and photo gallery of the Italian celebrations across the country last night, graciously penned by our English colleague T. Stephens, who was only slightly peeved about the nocturnal beeping of car-horns in Bern…

Beyond football, what’s to talk about? There’s always the weather. The weekend saw yet more storm and rain disruption, including a brief severing from civilization of the mountain resort of Engelberg (canton Nidwalden). Emergency services in Bern, still haunted by memories of flooding in 2005, have laid out hundreds of metres of so-called “beaver blocks” beside the worryingly high Aare river. Lakes Zurich, Thun, Brienz, and Lucerne are also “full to the brim”, SRF weather says. More rain is expected throughout the week.

Keystone / Urs Flueeler

Deep Dive Attitudes about Covid: optimistic, but for how long?

In July 2021, how do Swiss people feel about the pandemic? Largely optimistic, according to the latest Covid Monitor survey, published on Friday. More vaccinations, fewer cases, and dwindling restrictions have led to a “marked improvement” of how the population perceives the situation. People also trust the government again, after a wobble last Autumn; and businesses – at least startups – are looking brighter, it was reported today. Citizens have even recovered a healthy(?) dose of chauvinism; 73% of respondents think Switzerland is sitting prettier than its European neighbours when it comes to Covid.

All good? As our rather more dour siblings at SRF reported, maybe not all. If the survey is to be believed, SRF writes, the vaccination campaign – which experts already warn is flagging – is about to exhaust its potential. Some 60% of adults have now been vaccinated. But just 3% of the non-vaccinated say they definitely plan to do so; another 12% plan to “wait”, while 25% have no intention of getting the jab. If this is the case, how can Switzerland reach its 80% target? And what will happen if it doesn’t?

On top of this, with some groups (including farmers and manual workers) largely blind to the benefits of vaccination, and others (including researchers and office folk) big believers, a “deep vaccination divide” is gaping across Switzerland, SRF says; just in time for the summer holidays…

© Keystone / Peter Klaunzer

What’s Trending Fighter fallout rumbles on

The two big domestic political stories in Switzerland in recent months continue to collide: the ditching of negotiations with the European Union on a framework agreement, and the CHF5 billion purchase of new army fighter jets from US firm Lockheed Martin. When the latter news was announced two weeks ago, newspapers and analysts already wondered if the choice to buy American rather than European would be viewed by Brussels as another snub: should the government have thought more geostrategically about things?

In an interview with SWI swissinfo.ch, European expert Gilbert Casasus now says it straight out: for him, such a purchase is “never neutral”, and the choice of US jets has made two things clear: “firstly, [Switzerland’s] foreign policy is somewhat anti-European; and secondly, trade agreements with the US and Asian countries, especially China and Indonesia, seem to be more important than Switzerland’s good relations with Europe”.

Is he right? Read the full interview here.

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