The Week in Switzerland
Dear Swiss Abroad,
Welcome to our selection of some of the biggest – and most colourful – stories in Switzerland over the past seven days.
As the situation in Iran and Israel deteriorates, Swiss citizens there have been told they’re on their own. Studies reveal that trust in the news has increased in Switzerland and that the Swiss prioritise security of energy supply over climate targets. Also, dialect discrimination at Euro 2025?
As a result of the worst-ever conflict between Israel and Iran, various European countries are taking their nationals out of the region. Switzerland is not. The foreign ministry explains why.
The airspace over Israel and Iran is closed. Germany and other European countries such as Poland and Slovakia have responded by flying their nationals out of Israel via Jordan. However, the roughly 200 Swiss in Iran and 29,000 in Israel are on their own. Switzerland is not planning any organised departures.
The foreign ministry has been advising against all travel to Iran since summer 2024, Marianne Jenni, director of the consular directorate of the Swiss foreign ministry, told Swiss public radio, SRF, on Wednesday. As for Israel, she said the Swiss foreign ministry had warned against tourist and non-urgent travel. “People who still travel to this region are acting negligently,” she said. “The decision to leave a crisis region is made voluntarily, at your own risk and at your own expense.”
As a result of the worst-ever conflict between Iran and Israel, the foreign ministry has received around 130 requests – around 70 in Israel and 60 in Iran – from Swiss nationals wishing to leave the two countries. On Friday the Swiss foreign ministry said it had decided to temporarily close its embassy in Iran, citing intense military operations there and the highly unstable situation on the ground.
“All expatriate staff have now left Iran and are safe,” the
ministry said in a statement, adding that the staff would return to Tehran as soon as the situation allows. Earlier in the week, the Swiss authorities had evacuated five of the 12 diplomats stationed in Iran with their families.
On Wednesday, the Iranian ambassador to the UN in Geneva thanked Switzerland for its diplomacy. “We really welcome the Swiss government’s role in playing a positive role in resolving tensions between Iran and the United States,” Ali Bahreini said.
Trust in the news has increased in Switzerland, according to the Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2025. Almost half (46%) of adults who took part in a recent survey said they generally trusted Swiss news, up 5% on last year.
Swiss public broadcasters enjoy the most trust, followed by subscription newspapers, the report said on Tuesday. Tabloid media and new digital offerings receive less trust. However, there is little confidence in AI-supported news. Only a quarter of respondents are interested in AI functions such as automatic summaries or translations.
The economic situation facing the media remains tense. Yet 22% of Swiss respondents said they would pay for online news, an increase of five percentage points. Worldwide, the willingness to pay is 18%.
At the same time, the number of people in Switzerland who deliberately avoid news has risen to 39%. This puts Switzerland close to the global average of 40% – a record high. The reason often given is that news consumption has a negative impact on their emotional state or that people are overwhelmed by the sheer volume of news.
Separately, on Tuesday it was announced that there will no longer be a daily free newspaper in Switzerland from the end of the year: the TX Group is discontinuing the print version of 20 Minuten. The first edition of the commuter newspaper was published on December 13, 1999.
The Swiss population clearly prioritises security of energy supply over climate targets, according to a survey. This has consequences for nuclear power.
Most Swiss (59%) continue to support the implementation of the government’s energy strategy, the Association of Swiss Electricity Companies said on Tuesday regarding its annual survey.
Security of supply remains the top priority with 45%. Affordable electricity (29%) and climate neutrality (26%) follow at some distance. Acceptance of photovoltaics is particularly high: 94% of respondents are in favour of rapidly expanding rooftop solar installations.
For the first time, a majority of respondents (56%) are very or somewhat in favour of Switzerland considering the construction of new nuclear power plants again. However, 74% do not see the construction of nuclear power plants as a solution to the short-term supply problems.
“Overall, the survey shows that the population is more divided than ever,” the Tages-Anzeiger concluded on Tuesday. “While the left-wing camp is clearly against a return to nuclear power, many on the centre-right see it as an indispensable part of the energy future. The dispute is not just about technology, but also about values and visions of the future.”
For his part, Environment Minister Albert Rösti said on Wednesday that if no progress is made with hydropower and Alpine solar plants, new nuclear power plants are “the better option”.
Andrea Adamina spent two-and-a-half months being trained by the Swiss Football Association (SFA) as a stadium announcer for the Women’s European Championship – only to be told that UEFA doesn’t want announcements made in dialect.
The SFA had recruited two women for each of the eight Swiss stadiums hosting the tournament, which begins on July 2. Adamina and Mirja Mätzener had assumed one of them would be the main announcer and one would be the back-up.
However, on Thursday Swiss public broadcaster, SRF, reported how neither of the women – and none of the four women trained in Basel and Lucerne – would be taking part in Euro 2025. The SFA said it had been told by UEFA, European football’s Swiss-based governing body, earlier in the month that announcements would be made in English and High German – not Swiss German dialect. Therefore the SFA had decided to use the eight announcers who had made the most progress, regardless of where they were from. “I was informed by email – I was gutted,” Adamina said.
The week ahead
How many more Swiss have given up religion? On Monday the Federal Statistical Office publishes the results of a survey on religion and spirituality in Switzerland.
Monday is also the Chriesisturm (cherry charge) in Zug, a race involving eight-metre ladders and lots of cherries.
Lovers of big dogs (such as current Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter, pictured) should head to Martigny on Thursday for the official opening of the new Barryland, “the only theme park dedicated to the St Bernard”.
On Thursday and Friday the government will head to canton St Gallen for its annual excursion. All seven members and the federal chancellor will mingle with the public over drinks and nibbles in Rapperswil-Jona and in the city of St Gallen.
Edited by Samuel Jaberg/sb
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