Switzerland Today
Dear Swiss Abroad,
Criticised for his lack of decisiveness in denouncing Israel's war in Gaza, Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis has decided to go and see for himself: he will be visiting the Middle East today and tomorrow.
Today's briefing then turns to canton Valais, where landslides continue to cause concern, and where Elon Musk's SpaceX company also plans to expand. Finally, we sail onwards to Lake Geneva, where the local navigation company CGN's financial situation is in stormy waters.
Happy reading!
Pro-Palestine demonstrations in western Switzerland on Monday night continued to cause restrictions to rail national services on Tuesday morning. Due to delays and cancellations, trains were unable to travel to their respective depots, Swiss Federal Railways said.
In Geneva, protesters gathered outside Cornavin station at around 6:15pm on Monday and then occupied platforms 3 and 4, disrupting train services on four platforms until 7:30pm.
The same scenario was repeated at Lausanne station at around 8pm, resulting in a complete interruption of train services until 9pm.
The demonstrators’ anger was directed against the war waged by the Israeli government in the Gaza Strip, but also against Swiss inaction. In recent days, Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis has faced criticism for not denouncing Tel Aviv firmly enough, but also for repeating Israeli propaganda or distorting the facts.
In a surprising turn of events, Cassis announced today that he is travelling to the Middle East on Tuesday and Wednesday for official visits to the Palestinian and Israeli authorities.
His meetings will focus on the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, in particular the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip. During talks, the Swiss minister will address diplomatic efforts to find a political solution to the conflict and the security situation in the Middle East. In order to gain as comprehensive a picture as possible of the humanitarian situation in Gaza, Cassis will also meet representatives of international organisations that are active in the Gaza Strip and receive support from Switzerland.
SpaceX, owned by the American billionaire Elon Musk, intends to build dozens of antennas for the Starlink satellite network in Leuk, canton Valais.
The construction application was filed with the federal administration in May, writes Le Nouvelliste. The project foresees the installation of 40 antennas for the satellite internet access service, marketed by Musk since 2021. This would make Leuk the largest Starlink site in Europe.
The group “5G in Switzerland, no thanks”, meanwhile, recalled that it is possible to lodge an appeal against the project until the end of June. Opposition to the project was not a surprise for Leuk’s mayor, Alain Bregy: “People have always been afraid of the invisible,” he declared, after pointing out that the presence of the US company would be “an opportunity to boost the country’s economy”.
SpaceX’s equipment would replace part of the antenna system in operation at Leuk, which has occasionally made the headlines in the past. In 2013, for example, when “Datagate” exploded, there was speculation that the company operating part of them (Signalhorn, later renamed LEUK teleport & data centre) was intercepting communications abroad on behalf of the National Security Agency (NSA), an intelligence agency of the US Department of Defense.
It is not only the Blatten landslide that has the authorities in canton Valais worried. Another village in the region is under threat. Over the past ten days, several dozen debris flows have occurred in the upper Val de Bagnes and the hamlet of Epenays has been evacuated.
On June 2, a mudslide tore away the temporary emergency bridge in the upper Val de Bagnes in southern Switzerland. All that remains is a pedestrian and cycle path link to the village of Lourtier. A small lake has also formed, but this does not pose a danger.
According to the cantonal authorities, a third of the mountain slope has come loose. This represents around 30,000-50,000 cubic metres – a volume that doubled when it reached the bed of the Fregnoley river. GPS data show that the landslides have accelerated, reaching two metres per day in some places.
“What is happening these days, in Blatten and Val de Bagnes, exceeds the most pessimistic forecasts of the experts,” said the president of the Valais cantonal government, Mathias Reynard, following a helicopter reconnaissance flight.
The Lake Geneva navigation company CGN needs CHF500 million ($608 million) to CHF600 million to modernise its fleet and expand its services. A rescue plan is to be presented to shareholders by the end of the year.
Six of CGN’s eight steamboats are no longer fit to sail, the company says. The ship “La Suisse”, for example, has been resting at the quayside for several days this month due to damage. This incident has led to 3,000 ticket cancellations.
“We need CHF150 million for the shipyard, CHF150 million for the Belle Epoque ships and CHF200-300 million to expand public transport services,” CGN Director General Vincent Pellissier told Swiss public television, RTS, on Sunday.
The rescue plan for CGN is to be presented to the shareholders by the end of this year. These include the cantons of Geneva, Vaud and Valais, which hold 57% of the shares in the company, RTS said.
Translated from Italian using DeepL/amva
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