Switzerland Today
Greetings from Lausanne!
Here are the latest news and stories from Switzerland on Monday.
In the news: Ukrainian refugees, the Macron-Le Pen duel and climate activism.
- Switzerland is not setting a maximum limit on how many Ukrainian refugees it accepts, says the Swiss justice minister, Karin Keller-Sutter. So far, 28,500 people who have fled the war have been registered in Switzerland as refugees.
- French President Emmanuel Macron will face far-right challenger Marine Le Pen in a winner-takes-all runoff for the French presidency on April 24. Victory for Macron, like in the previous presidential duel against Le Pen in 2017, is far from guaranteed, warnSwiss newspapers.
- Climateactivistsbriefly blocked a motorwayExternal link near Lausanne today before being removed by police. They were calling for a national plan to renovate a million houses that require emergency insulation by 2040.
- The Swiss government has launched an information campaignExternal link to combat human trafficking, in particular those who have fled the war in Ukraine.
- Switzerland’s two federal institutes of technology have helped launch an $100 million (CHF93 million) information technology research centre in Bulgaria.
Kidnap victim plays down anti-vaccine links after shooting drama near Zurich.
Over the past few days, reporters have been trying to get to the bottom of a mysterious shooting dramaExternal link involving a 38-year-old Germanman and his femalecompanion, and Christoph Berger (photo above), the head of Switzerland’s vaccination advisory commission.
Last week it was reported that a German man and his companion had died during a shootout involving the police after an attempted arrest in Wallisellen, near Zurich. The fatal incident followed a kidnapping in the region. Newspapers in German-speaking Switzerland had speculated about the possible involvement of Berger.
Fast forward to Sunday. In a statement, the prominent Swiss health official identified himselfExternal link as the victim of a brief kidnapping last month that led to the shootout with police.
He said he didn’t know the man who had taken him captive for around an hour on March 31 and demanded a large sum ofmoney under threat of violence before releasing him.
“The focus was therefore solely on the economic interests of the perpetrator. The perpetrator made no reference to my role as President of the Vaccination Commission,” Berger stated.
“I am aware of the great emotional and social tensions that vaccination issues have received over the past two years,” added the doctor, who has made frequent appearances in the Swiss media during the coronavirus pandemic.
Several press outlets had reported alleged links between the suspect and anti-vaccine conspiracy theorists. These included a 34-year-old man later arrested in connection with the incident, who remains in custody.
Berger said he had been advised by police and prosecutors not to release any other details of his ordeal as it is the subject of an ongoing criminal investigation.
Last year Switzerland narrowly missed its government target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 20% compared to 1990 levels.
The actual reduction was 19%, the Federal Office for the Environment said on MondayExternal link. This is despite a warmwinter and the need for less heating and a sharp drop in mobility due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The industrial sector was the only one to exceed its CO2 emissions reduction target (15%) between 2013 and 2020, cutting CO2 equivalents by 17% in that period. The transport and housing sectors meanwhile narrowly missed their targets.
The goals form part of the country’s inventory to show its efforts towards meet greenhouse gas reduction targets for 2013 and 2020 laid out by the Kyotoprotocol, the predecessor to the 2015 Paris climate agreement.
Switzerland had aimed for 20% – somewhat higher than the 15.8% reductions between 2013 and 2020 laid out by the Kyoto protocol. Domestic emissions were reduced by 11% during this period, which was bumped up to 19% largely by offsetting emissions with the funding of sustainable climate projects in other countries.
Under the Paris treaty, Switzerland has pledged to halveemissions by 2030 and intends to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050. But the government was forced to re-draw its plans when voters rejected a package of climate reforms last year.
The environmental group WWF Switzerland said the latest inventory showed that the aviation industry and politicians must do everything possible to ensure that climate-friendly aircraft become the norm. “Until then, the use of aircraft must be restricted as far as possible,” it said.
Klimastreik Schweiz (Climate Strike Switzerland) was more critical. The activist group said the 20% reduction target had been “insufficient”. “Not a single sector has achieved these ridiculous goals. It’s a disgrace and a crime against our existence and future. Expect resistance,” it wrote on Twitter.
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Switzerland re-legalises raclette and fondue in cable cars.
Fans of cable car fondues and raclettes will be celebrating at news that they can once again eat hot cheese as they swing through the Swiss Alps – albeit if they stick to strict new rules.
Over the past 20 years around 20 ski lift companies have offered Switzerland’s best-known dishes in cable cars and gondolas to attractvisitors to mountain resorts.
However, since 2019 eating raclette or fondue while riding in a cable car has been banned in Europe. When Brussels introduced a new law banning open fires in closed cable cars, non-EU member Switzerland had to follow suit, even though no incidents of any kind had ever been reported in the Alpine country.
But in special circumstances, Swiss law allows exceptions to European standards if it can be proved that there is no increased risk.
The Swiss Ski Lift AssociationsaysExternal link it has found a suitable solution that has been approved by the Federal Office of Transport: the table in the cabin must be firmly fixed and made of fireproof material. The number of guests in each gondola must also not exceed ten.
“Guests will once again be able to enjoy a beautiful view and a delicious menu – either a fondue or raclette – without having to worry about safety”, said association director Berno Stoffel.
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