Switzerland Today

Greetings from Lausanne!

The crucial COP27 United Nations climate talks opened today in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh. Back in Switzerland various climate protests were reported.

The 2022 World Cup is also due to start later this month in Qatar. We’ve got some interesting views from Swiss expatriates about everyday life in the tiny Gulf state as football fever mounts. Here are other news and stories from Switzerland on Monday.

Keystone / Hu Guolin

In the news: Swiss neutrality and Ukraine, chef of year and Switzerland the coal-trading hub.

• People in Ukrainedo not understand the Swiss concept of neutrality, says Claude Wild, Switzerland’s ambassador to Ukraine. In Ukraine you have to constantly explain to people Switzerland’s position and its stance on neutrality, he told several Swiss newspapers in an interview.
• More than 70,000 people have fled to Switzerland from Ukraine and applied for refugee status, say the Swiss authorities. Switzerland is expecting a huge hike in the number of asylum seekers and refugees this year.
• Around 40% of the world’s coal is bought and sold in Switzerland, according to a study. Swiss banks such as Credit Suisse and UBS are among the top lenders to the coal business. The Swiss NGO Public Eye, which produced the study, denounces the laxity of the Swiss authorities and Swiss banks, despite declarations that they are massively reducing their investments.
• Benoît Carcenat, chef at La Table du Valrose hotel restaurant in Rougemont, (main photo above) has been named“Chef of the Year 2023” by GaultMillau Switzerland. 
• Switzerland has signed a migration partnership with North Macedonia, which is an important transit country for people passing from Greece through the Balkans region to Europe.
• Almost 30cm of snow fell this weekend above 2,000 metres, allowing some resorts, such as Saas-Fee and Engelberg, to openExternal link ski runs. Around ten others are due to follow over the next couple of weeks.

Auslandschweizer-Organisation / Adrian Moser

Swiss Abroad make seven political demands ahead of 2023 elections.

The 2023 federal elections were at the centre of the discussions of the Council of the Swiss Abroad, who met online on Saturday. The Organisation of the Swiss Abroad (OSA) decided to submit seven demands to political parties and actors with the aim of making the voice of Swiss citizens who live abroad heard in the federal parliament.

“In view of the 2023 federal elections, the OSA intends to play its role as an organisation that defends the interests of the Swiss Abroad to the best of its ability,” said OSA president Filippo Lombardi (photo above) at the opening of the Council of the Swiss Abroad’s discussions.

Of the nearly 790,000 Swiss citizens living abroad, 210,000 are registered to vote in their country of residence. This is why the OSA has decided, through its now traditional electoral manifesto, to address not only the Swiss political parties and actors, but also the authorities and public opinion in general.

The issues of concern to the Swiss Abroad are more or less the same as in the previous federal election. Already in 2019 the OSA’s election manifesto focused on their difficulties in exercising their right to vote, on maintaining the consular network and on international mobility.

The list of demands in brief:

1. Enable the exercise of political rights from abroad

2. Promote the development of e-government

3. Ensure the continued free movement of people

4. Remove obstacles to mobility linked to social insurance

5. Ensure the maintenance of a consular network that meets the needs of Swiss citizens abroad

6. Guarantee the development of quality and independent information for the Swiss Abroad

7. Ensure the allocation of the financial resources necessary to maintain the offers for young Swiss people abroad and to develop Swiss schools abroad.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

What’s it like living in Qatar, future host of the World Cup?

Qatar is poised to host the first World Cup in the Middle East in the tournament’s 92-year-history from November 20-December 18. But the tiny Gulf state has faced a wave of criticism since it was awarded the tournament in 2010.

Its treatment of migrant workersExternal link and its human rights records have been under the spotlight, leading to calls for teams to boycott the tournament altogether.

In our “Countdown to the World Cup” series, we talk to Swiss expatriates about their experiences of life in Qatar, a state of only 2.9 million residents.

“I don’t think it’s fair that Qatar is criticised so much. Every World Cup has had its problems. And the media often exaggerate the situation on the ground,” says a teacher who has worked in Doha for the past six years.

She describes the excitement of Qataris as the first match approaches. “Are they ready for the whole world to descend on their country? I don’t think so. Qatar is a bubble,” she notes.

“I wonder what they will do when tourists don’t cover their shoulders or football fans kiss in public.”

Fans wanting to buy alcohol will also be an issue in the Muslim country, she notes.

But the World Cup is going to have a huge impact on daily life effectively closing down the country, as Andreas Briner, a 53-year-old geologist, explained in another interview. Schools will be closed for four weeks during the World Cup, 80% of the workforce is to work from home, and many roads will be closed from 11am.  Business trips will almost be impossible during the tournament because the hotels are all booked up.

“Qatar wants to build a positive image in the world and become a modern nation… I don’t want to paint an overly positive picture; like everywhere, there is always room for improvement. But the World Cup has made conditions here in the country fairer and much has changed for the better,” he says.