Switzerland today

Dear Swiss Abroad,

In today's briefing we enter the Federal Palace, where the parliamentary spring session continues and the political stakes are rising ahead of the election Viola Amherd's successor in government. 

And while Switzerland's candidate at the Eurovision song contest has been revealed, an SRF investigation shows how some Swiss machines allegedly ended up, even recently, in the Russian war industry.

Happy reading!

Keystone / Peter Klaunzer

The Centre Party’s two official candidates to succeed outgoing minister Viola Amherd are doing the rounds with meetings with the parliamentary groups of the main ‘bourgeois’ parties. The impression is that the ‘outsider’ Martin Pfister is gaining ground on Markus Ritter.

The Radical Liberal Party has not expressed a preference and its members will vote according to their conscience, said party leader Damien Cottier, emphasising that these are “two competent candidates”. Lately, however, the Radicals have been signalling a growing interest in Pfister. He is a member of the government of business-friendly canton Zug that has not been represented in the Federal Council for decades. 

The Swiss People Party, that has a strong rural support base, seems to quite obviously favour Markus Ritter who is the president of the Swiss Farmers’ Union. Ritter himself said that he was convinced he could count on the votes of the largest political group in parliament. 

Corina Gredig, parliamentary group leader of the Liberal Green Party, indicated that the two candidates had done “well”, but also added that “Pfister was closer to our positions”.

Next week, Pfister and Ritter will also meet the parliamentary groups of the leftwing Social Democrats and the Greens. The election by the Federal Assembly is scheduled for March 12

• The article in RSIExternal link

SRF

Despite the 2022 sanctions against export to Russia of Swiss machinery that can be used by the weapons industry, around 100 have reportedly reached the country since then. This was revealed in an investigation by SRF.

The investigation of Russian customs data shows for the first time the extent of sanctions circumvention with regard to Swiss machinery, which is at the forefront of precision production of weapon components such as the AK-12, the standard rifle used by the Russian armed forces.

For example, SRF was able to ascertain that two ‘Swiss Nano’ machines manufactured by Tornos AG in the canton of Jura arrived in Turkey in June 2023. The consignee was the Turkish company Enütek Makina, probably a front company. Only a month later, an identical delivery, the first in a series, was registered in the town of Dubna, north of Moscow. 

Mykhailo Podoliak, advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, believes that Swiss manufacturers are to blame. ‘They sell high-tech products controlled by software. If today it is possible to track every phone, it is also possible to track these machines. Manufacturers know exactly where things are delivered and sold, but if they start tracking, they will lose profits, and they don’t want to lose them.”

• The full investigation by SRFExternal link

SRF

Today it was revealed who will represent Switzerland at the Eurovision song contest. It is the Fribourg singer-songwriter Zoë Më. The event organisers are also reportedly working on bringing a special guest to
Basel: Céline Dion. 

“Céline Dion and the Eurovision Song Contest in Switzerland go hand in hand. That is clear. Will she be in Basel? Will she participate in the show? There are many possibilities and we are working on it,” says Moritz Stadler, executive producer of the ESC. The Canadian was the last singer before Nemo to win the Eurovision song contest (ESC) for Switzerland, in 1988.

The Swiss representative at this year’s contest, Zoë Më, has been writing songs since the age of 10 and is best known for her ability to mix German and French in her lyrics.

Basel will welcome tens of thousands of fans for the semi-finals on May 13 and 15 and the final on May 17; 160 million are expected to watch the music competition on their television sets. 

• The ESC announcement on RTSExternal link
• Switzerland at Eurovision: the colourful hits and misses
• RSI articleExternal link on Zoë Më
• A touch of nostalgia: Céline Dion singing Ne partez pas sans moiExternal link at the 1988 ESC.

Keystone / Alessandro Della Valle

Let us now take a look at some of the decisions taken by parliament at the beginning of the spring session: support for the regional press, a database on plane passengers and an agreement with the UK on financial services. 

The House of Representatives aligned itself with the Senate by approving the agreement with the United Kingdom that introduces for the first time equivalence between the two regulatory frameworks, British and Swiss, allowing reciprocal entry into each other’s financial services markets.

For its part, the Senate approved the new Air Passenger Data Act. Its aim is to improve the exchange of information between Switzerland and Europe. The ultimate goal is the fight against crime and terrorism. The legal basis will in particular allow Switzerland to establish a national system for processing travellers’ data – the so-called Passenger Name Record (PNR) – a practice already in force in many other countries.

Back to the House of Representatives, which gave its green light to extending indirect support for the regional and local press from the current CHF30 million to CHF40 million. ‘Yes’ also to the maintenance of support for the associative and foundation press (CHF20 million) and the CHF25 million subsidy for morning delivery of newspapers.   

• RSI articleExternal link on the financial deal with London
• Details of support for the regional press on RTSExternal link
• SRF liveticker External linkon the latest decisions taken in Parliament.

Keystone / Ennio Leanza

Picture of the day

With spring in the air, the insect world is active again. A busy bee is our picture of the day. 

Adapted from Italian by DeepL/ac