Switzerland Today

Hello from Bern,

A new week, a new term in universities, a new record in registered gambling bans, a new Franco-Swiss cold front and… new protests against Covid measures.

Keystone / Ennio Leanza

In the news: (some) university students the latest to protest Covid certificate rules.

• On Monday, as the new university term started for 300,000 students in Switzerland, various small groups turned out to protest against the decision of (most) unis to require a Covid certificate to attend classes. The number of protesters in Zurich was estimated at 150, while 100 turned out in Lucerne, the Keystone-SDA news agency reported. Here’s a feature we also published today about the mood in Swiss universities as term begins.
• The number of gamblers newly banned from Swiss casinos rose sharply last year to over 10,000, the NZZ am Sonntag paper reported. In 2019, the increase was less than half this. A spokesperson for the Federal Gambling Commission said the rise is mainly due to new online casinos and more online gamblers. Under Swiss law, a casino must issue a ban if it knows a player is in debt or unable to meet their financial obligations, or if the person gambles large amounts compared to their monthly income and assets.
• Art Basel, one of the world’s most prestigious art fairs (if not the most prestigious) opens its 2021 edition today. After cancellation in 2021 and a postponement earlier this year, the event hopes to attract large numbers, although not comparable to pre-pandemic times. Some 272 galleries are expected to exhibit. The event runs all week, although it’s only open for the public from Friday 24-Sunday 26 September.

© Keystone / Jean-christophe Bott

In the papers: Switzerland becomes the latest nation added to French enemy list.

Last week, a geopolitical kerfuffle erupted when Australia dropped a multi-billion-dollar submarine deal with France, opting for a deal with the US and the UK instead. As France “fumed” (Financial Times) and recalled its ambassadors from Washington and Canberra for consultations, Australia was unrepentant: “I don’t regret the decision to put Australia’s national interest first,” prime minister Scott Morrison said.

Keen not to be left out of this “unprecedented diplomatic crisis” (Reuters), the Swiss press breathlessly revealed at the weekend that a similar spat is now brewingExternal link between geopolitical rivals Paris and… Bern! According to the SonntagsZeitung, a visit by Swiss President Guy Parmelin to Paris in November has been cancelled by the French, annoyed this time about Switzerland’s choice to buy new fighter jets from a US company, not a French one.

The newspaper wrote – citing unnamed diplomatic sources – that Emmanuel Macron and co. were especially angry that Swiss negotiators continued to string them along, as if they were interested in the French fighters, even after a decision had been made to buy the US F-45s. And so, the first visit of a Swiss president to Paris since Alain Berset in 2018 is off, at least for now – just at the moment that Switzerland could do with some friends in Europe…

But if a stand-off between neighbours is really on the cards, both are doing their best to downplay it: a spokeswoman for the Swiss economics ministry said that, as the date for Parmelin’s trip hadn’t actually been finalised, it’s not a case of “cancelling a confirmed visit”. On the French side, meanwhile, a spokesperson also said it had “not been cancelled”, and it definitely hadn’t been shelved “for the reasons mentioned”. On reste amis…

© Keystone / Christian Beutler

Flying high again: Zurich airport boss optimistic post-Covid.

As of today, new travel rulesExternal link for entering Switzerland have come into effect: anyone not vaccinated or recovered from the virus has to show a negative PCR or antigen test on arrival, as well as take another test 4-7 days later; all arrivals, vaccinated or not, must also fill out a passenger locator form, no matter which form of transport they arrive on – road, rail, or air.

It’s another headache for the travel industry (and the border guards). But in today’s Tages-Anzeiger, the head of Zurich airport, Switzerland’s biggest, is more concerned about the change in travel habitsExternal link brought about by the rise of virtual meetings among business professionals: firms are slashing their travel budgets, Andreas Schmid says, and routes like Zurich-London, once the airport’s busiest, are much depleted.

But Schmid doesn’t agree that air travel is never going to be the same. Worldwide there may be changes, but Mr and Mrs Swiss will continue to take the plane for foreign holidays, he claims. Why? Because they are “not used to driving for long journeys”(!) In fact, when it comes to tourist travel, there is currently a lot of “catch-up demand”. Overall, he says, the airport expects to be back to pre-Covid traffic levels by 2025 (right now it’s half what it was before).

Is this wishful thinking? Lots of Bernese friends of this journalist have been happily taking the train or the car to Italy for holidays this year; lots of others are watching their carbon footprint when it comes to long-haul flights to Thailand. But Schmid, who knows more about these things than me (and whose job is hardly to herald his own decline), is not having any of it. He goes on to sing the virtues of Zurich airport: “comfort, cleanliness, punctuality”. In fairness, on this score, he has the backing of the Financial Times’ Swiss correspondent, who wrote last weekExternal link that Zurich is “a fairly flawless airport”.

What do you reckon: are you going to continue to fly (as much) after the pandemic? And is Zurich airport the mecca of international travel hubs? [e-mail]