Switzerland Today

Dear Swiss Abroad,

It’s the day before Ascension – a public holiday – in Switzerland, which means the shops are closing early and the southbound traffic jams are growing. We’ll be back with our next briefing on Friday.

Keystone / Noemi Cinelli

In the news: Ukraine and Middle East still driving headlines.

• Pro-Palestine sit-ins and demonstrations continued at several Swiss universities today, notably at the universities of Lausanne and Geneva. Similar actions at the two federal polytechnic universities in Lausanne and Zurich ended yesterday, not without some police intervention. Today, a Jewish group said it was watching the events with concern.
• After months of debate, the Swiss government has pledged CHF10 million ($11 million) for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA. The funding was frozen last December after allegations about UNRWA’s neutrality and links to Hamas. The rest of the annual CHF20 million Swiss contribution will be discussed later in the year, a government spokesman said.
• The presidents of Poland, Finland, and Latvia as well as the prime ministers of Spain and Belgium will attend the Ukraine conference at the Bürgenstock resort in canton Nidwalden next month, the Swiss foreign ministry said today. Some 160 states and international organisations have been invited to the talks, scheduled on June 15-16.
• The Swiss government plans to pump CHF1 billion ($1.1 billion) into flood protection measures along the Rhine over the next three decades, it said today. Due to the risk of flooding in the lower Rhine valley, Switzerland and Austria have decided to improve protection on the basis of a new treaty, ministers said.
• It was a good winter season for Swiss cable car operators, an industry association said today. Up until the end of April 2024, mountain railway and cable car operators ferried 3% more visitors compared to the previous winter, and 5% more than the five-year average. Heavy snowfall both at the start and the end of the season apparently drove demand.

Ti-Press

Thursday tip: Nemo in Malmö

Whether or not you’re a Eurovision fan, if you’re looking for some mild entertainment tomorrow (since SWI swissinfo.ch won’t be sending you a daily briefing), you could do worse than tune in to the second of the competition’s semi-finals. Notably, Swiss entrant Nemo will be singing/rapping/shouting in an attempt to reach the final on Saturday. Will Nemo make it? Check out our feature on Nemo’s chances here.