Switzerland Today
Dear Swiss Abroad,
The meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin could take place in Budapest – and not in Geneva.
Also in today’s briefing, Swiss hotels are doing brilliantly. Nevertheless, their association is calling for a permanently reduced VAT rate. Plus we report on the fate of an emigrant that ended tragically.
Will the meeting between Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin not take place in Switzerland after all? Recent reports mention Hungary as a possible meeting place.
In recent days, French President Emmanuel Macron has mentioned Geneva as a possible venue for peace talks between Ukraine and Russia. Today, online portal Watson writes that Budapest has been suggested for such a meeting, during talks between US President Donald Trump and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
Watson bases this on reports from the US media Politico and Bloomberg. According to these reports, the US Secret Service is already making arrangements for a meeting between the presidents of Ukraine and Russia in the Hungarian capital.
A three-way meeting with Trump is then planned. However, there are still no binding commitments from the Kremlin. It is also still unclear what concrete form the security guarantees for Ukraine could take, which are also to be the subject of the talks.
Even the strong franc can’t harm them: the Swiss hotel industry is setting new records. Nevertheless, its association is calling for a continuation of the lower VAT rate. The government rejects this.
Last year Swiss hotels enjoyed record overnight stays. A record year is also in sight for Swiss tourism in 2025, according to Tamedia publications. Despite the strong Swiss franc, international customers continue to value Switzerland for its beautiful landscapes and as a safe and attractive holiday destination.
However, the hotel industry emphasises that despite the tourism boom, there is still plenty of room for improvement. For example, room occupancy is only around 54% despite growth, it says. The Hotelleriesuisse association is therefore calling for long-term tax relief for more planning security.
Since 1996, a reduced VAT rate of 3.8% has temporarily applied to accommodation, instead of 8.1%. The association would like to retain this permanently. However, the government, which is under pressure to make savings, is against this. One of the reasons for its rejection is the positive development of tourism.
Love drew him to Colombia in 2015. But emigration soon turned into a nightmare for a Swiss pensioner.
His son was already living in Colombia, where he had married a woman from the Antioquia region. Because the pensioner, Eric Alain B, had fallen in love with the woman’s cousin, he moved to Colombia at the age of 65, as Blick reports today.
When he wanted to rent two flats for himself and his new wife’s family, the misfortune began. A shady lawyer smelled easy prey and ripped him off with all kinds of imaginary fees.
He did not find happiness in his marriage to the Colombian woman either. It ended after just a few months. After his divorce, his housekeeper also tricked him in order to enrich herself. Eric Alain B. died in 2023 at the age of 73.
The number of suicides has fallen slightly in Switzerland. Internationally, suicide rates have actually fallen sharply in recent years.
A research team compared 102 countries, Swiss public broadcaster, SRF, reported. The researchers concluded that suicide rates worldwide have fallen by almost 30% in three decades: from around ten cases per 100,000 inhabitants in 1990 to seven in 2021.
The suicide rate is higher in high-income countries than in poorer countries, they found. In the US, for example, the rate has actually increased significantly in the past 20 years. However, there is little or no data available for many African countries.
With 11 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, Switzerland still has a comparatively high suicide rate. However, it has also decreased somewhat. In men over the age of 19, it has even halved over the past 25 years.
Translated from German by DeepL/ts
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