Switzerland Today
Dear Swiss Abroad,
In a joint declaration, 27 states have criticised the Israeli government’s plans to regulate aid for the Gaza Strip through a new private foundation. Switzerland has decided against signing the declaration.
Today’s briefing also looks at why the French language is causing students in both French- and German-speaking Switzerland to despair.
Enjoy the read!
In a joint declaration, 27 countries worldwide, including Germany and the UK, are calling for Israel to allow aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip again immediately. Switzerland was asked whether it wanted to sign the declaration, but the foreign ministry declined.
The declaration criticises plans by the Israeli government to allow aid to be delivered only to locations secured by private security forces. The newly established Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which is based in Geneva, also plays a role in Israel’s plans.
In an interview with Swiss public radio, SRF, Monika Schmutz Kirgöz, Ambassador and Head of the Middle East and North Africa Division at the foreign ministry, says Switzerland is largely in agreement with the declaration of the 27 states. However, the foreign ministry criticises it as imprecisely formulated. “The declaration mentions a mechanism for the distribution of humanitarian goods – without it being clear what exactly this should look like. Very little is known about the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.”
Switzerland’s participation in the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation is ruled out at the moment, says Schmutz Kirgöz, adding that Switzerland continues to insist that normal humanitarian aid can reach the Gaza Strip. “Lorries have been arriving in the area again since Monday, but there were six on Monday, 97 on Tuesday and 100 yesterday. That’s nowhere near enough. We need 600 lorries every day.” She stresses even more clearly: “This humanitarian blockade must be lifted immediately.”
The Kremlin is hosting a security conference at the end of May and Switzerland is taking part.
As CH Media reports, Gabriel Lüchinger, Head of the International Security Division of the foreign ministry, will be travelling to Moscow for the conference. Lüchinger is likely to be one of the few, if not the only, representative from Western Europe. This is because no one from the EU is travelling from Brussels.
According to the foreign ministry, Lüchinger is using the conference for talks with representatives of the Russian government. “It is part of the offer of good offices to talk to both Russia and Ukraine,” it says.
Is the government once again more involved in peace efforts in Ukraine? There are growing signs of this, writes CH Media. A post on X by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and various high-level meetings between Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter and Zelensky, among others, would at least indicate that Switzerland is positioning itself for possible peace negotiations.
On the Russian side, there is less faith in Switzerland’s role. “If the current dynamics and the frankly pro-Kyiv position of the Swiss authorities persist, the question of organising such a meeting in Switzerland is rather speculative,” said the Russian ambassador to Switzerland, Sergei Garmonin, quoted by the TASS agency.
“Ecrire en français, c’est l’horreur,” said Switzerland’s highest education director, Valais cantonal councillor Christophe Darbellay, yesterday. Writing in French is a nightmare. The background to the statement: a study on the language skills of Swiss pupils.
While the pupils achieved the required level in their respective school language, French spelling caused difficulties for young people in French-speaking Switzerland.
However, young people in German-speaking Switzerland also struggled with French, for example in the two Basel cantons, where French is taught as a first foreign language. Conversely, young people in French-speaking Switzerland have a hard time with German.
Social factors also play a role in test results: girls scored better than boys and those who come from a home where the same language is spoken as at school have fewer difficulties than those whose parents speak a different language.
Unsurprisingly, young people from all language regions scored well in the English test. Darbellay sees English as a major competitor for the Swiss national languages: “English is part of everyday life for young people, part of the internet.” He believed that although English is important, it alone is not enough for a career in Switzerland.
Imagine you want to go to Amsterdam and simply try your luck – without a boarding pass. Last June a woman made it onto the plane at Zurich Airport without a ticket.
However, the trip didn’t go any further. When counting the passengers on board, the staff realised that the number did not match the papers. The woman was later fined CHF500 ($600) by the Federal Office of Civil Aviation – but this did not prevent her from trying again a few weeks later to fly to Barcelona without a ticket. Also without success.
According to an analysis by SRF Investigativ, the number of people bypassing boarding pass checks is increasing, particularly at Zurich Airport. However, the number is in single figures: there was one case at Zurich Airport in 2023, four in 2024 and four this year, as of May.
This raises the question of security. Zurich Airport told SRF that a distinction is made between the boarding pass check and the security check, and that it’s hard to bypass the latter. “Some people got quite far without a boarding pass, but they were checked at security,” says Bettina Kunz, spokeswoman for Zurich Airport. No one is known to have actually taken off from Zurich without a ticket.
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