Switzerland Today
Dear Swiss Abroad,
A heavyweight of Swiss politics died unexpectedly at the weekend. Daniel Brélaz, the former parliamentarian of the Greens and mayor of Lausanne, suffered a sudden cardiac arrest at the university hospital there on Sunday night. He was being treated for kidney disease.
In addition, today we take a look at the winners and losers among Swiss wildlife in 2025. Unfortunately, there are more losers than winners.
Warm greetings from Bern
He was known as the man with the cat tie – and made history worldwide. After the death of politician Daniel Brélaz , Switzerland looks back on a pioneer who brought green politics out of the protest corner and into the political arena.
According to the Green Party, the politician was the first representative of a Green party in the world to be elected to a national parliament in 1979. In doing so, he has helped the environmental movement to gain recognition and institutional anchoring.
Brélaz, a mathematician by training, was considered a representative of rational, data-oriented politics. His pragmatic approach challenged the common image of ideologically driven environmental politics. In Lausanne, as mayor, he combined environmental goals with financial and infrastructural consolidation, for example in the construction of the city’s metro.
His career was marked by successes and setbacks. Projects such as the new museum building in Bellerive failed, while his many years in office helped to establish the Greens as a force capable of governing.
Despite individual successes in species conservation, the overall balance for wildlife in Switzerland is negative. The WWF Report for 2025 paints a gloomy picture overall.
The lynx is an example of the complex challenges: although Switzerland is home to the largest population in Western Europe with over 300 animals, it is considered a loser. The lynx populations are poorly connected, genetically impoverished and endangered by inbreeding, which could undo previous successes.
The alpine marmot is considered a direct victim of climate change. Winters with little snow mean that the protective insulating layer for their burrows is at risk. Many animals do not survive hibernation in the thawing burrows.
Targeted conservation projects are a glimmer of hope. The little owl, once almost disappeared, has become more widespread in decades with 161 territories. According to the WWF, the project to reintroduce the bison in Switzerland, which has disappeared for 1,000 years, also shows that trend reversals are possible.
Due to planned austerity measures by the Swiss government, Swiss universities are raising tuition fees, which is leading to drastic and controversial measures.
The largest increases in semester fees will affect foreign students: At ETH Zurich and EPFL Lausanne, fees have already tripled from CHF730 to CHF2,190 per semester from 2025. The University of St. Gallen will charge fees of CHF3,300 per semester for international students in the future, while locals will have to pay CHF1,310.
Other universities take a different approach. The University of Basel is doubling its fees for long-term students from CHF850 to CHF1,700. The universities of Geneva and Lausanne are sticking to their low fees that are the same for everyone.
The university umbrella organisation Swissuniversities sharply criticises this development: any significant increase contradicts the right to equal, performance-oriented access to education enshrined in the constitution. Association President Luciana Vaccaro warns that ultimately this will hit “an engine of our country’s prosperity”.
In the last week of the year, we present the most read articles from our “Swiss Abroad” section. Today we are looking at the facilitated naturalisation for spouses of Swiss Abroad, which is more demanding than often assumed. These are the three biggest hurdles.
Close ties: In addition to a marriage of at least six years at a common place of residence, proof of a “close relationship” is the biggest hurdle. This consists of eight cumulative conditions, all of which must be met without exception and represent the most complicated part of the procedure.
Travel and social contacts: Applicants must prove that they have been to Switzerland at least three times in the last six years for five days or more each. The State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) classifies this as one of the “main difficulties”. In addition, regular contact with Swiss nationals must be proven.
Language test without a clear level: Officially, only “elementary oral language skills” in a national language are required, without a specific level being set. In practice, however, competence is tested in an interview, where a level corresponding to A1-A2 seems to be expected, which leads to uncertainty in preparation.
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