Switzerland Today
Dear Swiss Abroad,
Last night I had the privilege of witnessing a historic event: the Swiss women's football team's first-ever qualification for the quarterfinals of a European Championship (Women’s Euro 2025).
Like the other 26,387 spectators in the stadium (women were clearly in the majority), I experienced every possible emotion: tension, disappointment, relief and, finally, pure joy!
As I left the stadium in Geneva, my thoughts went out to all those who have fought for women to be able to finally compete and show off their skills on football pitches.
Happy reading.
Many did not believe it, but Switzerland will be playing in the quarterfinals of the Women’s European Championship, hosted in the Alpine nation. On Thursday evening, the Swiss team scored a late equaliser to secure a 1-1 draw against Finland in a thrilling match.
In the 79th minute, the Swiss looked like they would be eliminated after Finland scored from the penalty spot. But in the 92nd minute, Riola Xhemaili equalised to send Switzerland through to the quarterfinals. They will now face either Spain or Italy in Bern on Friday July 18.
“Right until the last second, I knew we were going to score. We deserved much more, and we got it in the end,” said striker Riola Xhemaili. Swiss coach Pia Sundhage hailed the moment as “the best draw of [her] career, and certainly the most exciting”.
The Swiss press praised the team’s achievement. Arcinfo highlighted their “remarkable strength of character”. Blick enthused about a “young generation that sets no limits”. The Tages- Anzeiger hailed the coach as “the architect of the great success”. Meanwhile, La Liberté complained about the difficulty of buying a sausage from one of the stadium refreshment stands but seemed satisfied with the result.
Bilateral relations between Switzerland and the European Union are also in the news. On Friday, economiesuisse and the Swiss Employers’ Association gave their support to the package of agreements negotiated with the EU. The deal is currently in a consultation phase until October 31.
“It’s a good agreement, important for Switzerland and it will enable us to stabilise and develop the bilateral path,” Monika Rühl, director general of economiesuisse, told Swiss public radio, RTS. She also highlighted the benefits of the Bilateral III treaty, “for example in the areas of research, innovation and electricity”, where “good market access” is planned.
However, the business community is calling for implementation that takes account of the needs of companies. Rühl insists that “the flexibility of the labour market” must be preserved. Most of the measures agreed between the social partners are supported with the exception of one, designed to protect employee representatives against redundancies.
The business community also supports the safeguard clause on immigration. In their view, this should be applied strictly and the details examined in depth, with the participation of the social partners.
The president of the Swiss House of Representatives, Maja Riniker, experienced a drone attack during her trip to Ukraine, CH Media newspapers reported on Friday. The Liberal-Radical politician praised the resilience of the Ukrainian people.
Riniker told reporters that she spent two hours in a fallout shelter in the town of Vinnytsia, in the centre of the country, because of a drone alert. She was woken in her sleep at 1:30am on Friday. Ukraine suffered another major Russian air attack on Thursday night, which killed two people and injured 22.
The Swiss politician said she always felt safe during her trip, as most of the meetings took place two levels underground. “But we mustn’t forget that for the civilian population this situation has been going on for almost four years. It’s a huge burden,” she said.
“The situation is disastrous, but there is a lot of strength. I was deeply moved by that,” she added. During her trip, she met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and members of the Ukrainian parliament. She also visited aid projects financed by Switzerland.
Plans for a new Swiss embassy in Beijing, China, have been scrapped. The Chinese authorities have refused planning permission, and the Swiss federal government is losing CHF4 million, Swiss public radio, SRF, reveals.
Exposed concrete and large bay windows: the future headquarters of the Swiss embassy in Beijing looked great. But it will never see the light of day. The Chinese authorities refused the building permit on the grounds that the project did not comply with current standards.
After almost ten years of preparatory work, those in charge of the project quietly buried it, as internal documents obtained by SRF show. However, CHF4 million of taxpayers’ money have already been spent on an architectural competition and planning, not forgetting the time spent by federal civil servants.
The Swiss foreign ministry has defended itself. It claims that it is common practice to have to “make adjustments”, as foreign authorities generally do not provide guarantees before a permit application is officially submitted. It adds that the investment is not lost: a new building will have to be built at some point anyway.
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