Switzerland Today
Dear Swiss Abroad,
Do you know how you plan to vote for the four national proposals – the SBC initiative, the climate fund initiative, the "Cash is freedom" initiative and on individual taxation – on March 8?
The first SBC survey, which was published today, offers an early snapshot of what to expect on the year’s first voting Sunday. It suggests that clear majorities are already emerging for three of the four proposals.
Good reading!
On March 8, Switzerland will vote on four very different proposals. According to the first SBC vote poll, clear majorities are emerging for the climate fund initiative, the “Cash is freedom” initiative and on individual taxation. The SBC initiative, however, remains wide open.
The poll was commissioned by the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (Swissinfo’s parent company) and conducted in mid-January by the gfs.bern research institute.
It shows that, at first glance, the SBC initiative – which aims to reduce the licence fee for the SBC from CHF335 to CHF200 ($260) – may be rejected (52% are against the proposal). “But with a margin of error of 3%, the rejection rate could also be as low as 49%,” cautions gfs.bern political scientist Martina Mousson, warning against drawing early conclusions. It is worth noting that voting intentions among Swiss Abroad and voters in Switzerland are very similar regarding this initiative.
According to gfs.bern, opinions on the SBC initiative are already relatively fixed. The decisive factor may therefore no longer be persuasion, but which camp succeeds in mobilising its supporters.
The picture is clearer for individual taxation – the abolition of the so-called “marriage penalty”. The proposal enjoys majority support across the political spectrum. Swiss citizens abroad are even more favourable, with 74% backing the change.
Support was also high for the “Cash is freedom” initiative, with 65% in favour. However, Mousson notes that opinions here are less stable than for the other proposals. The outlook is different for the climate fund initiative, which appears unlikely to succeed. “If an initiative does not have majority support at the start of the campaign, it has usually already failed,” says gfs.bern’s Lukas Golder.
Since federal officers fatally shot a US citizen in Minneapolis last weekend, global attention has been focused on the Minnesota city. How are Swiss citizens in the region experiencing events on the ground?
Karin Stricker and David Mörker, two Swiss expatriates who have lived in Minnesota for decades, describe their experiences to the Tages-Anzeiger – from notably different perspectives.
“We fight back wherever we can,” says Stricker, who emigrated to Minneapolis 25 years ago and now lives there with her American husband. “As soon as an ICE vehicle turns into the street, the whistling starts – whistle brigades against ICE authorities.” Many residents carry whistles, she says, and every encounter is filmed and documented.
Stricker herself avoids protests. “My green card expires in two years. I don’t want to risk my residence permit under any circumstances.” Her husband, however, regularly takes part in demonstrations. “It’s important to us that people in Switzerland understand what conditions are like in Minneapolis,” she says. “We are not ‘heading towards a fascist regime’ – we are already living in one.”
Mörker, president of the Twin Cities Swiss American Association for 21 years and a board member of Swiss Community in America, strikes a more neutral tone. “I’m there for everyone. I stay neutral and try to keep the church in the village,” he says.
For Mörker, the two major parties “function almost like sects”. “There is little rational debate. You are expected to take one side or the other, without nuance.” This, he says, fuels irreconcilability and aggression. His wish is that people in Minneapolis sit around a table and listen to all voices – “not only those from their own bubble”.
World Cup Alpine ski races have been taking place in Crans-Montana under special circumstances following the fire disaster a month ago. On Friday, the women’s downhill had to be cancelled after three crashes.
The decision to cancel the race was taken after less than an hour. It had been snowing heavily in Crans-Montana, and only three of the six racers who started reached the finish. The other three – Austria’s Nina Ortlieb, Norway’s Marte Monsen and US skier Lindsey Vonn – crashed.
A super-G is scheduled for Saturday in canton Valais. At the time of writing, however, it was still unclear whether the race could go ahead due to the poor weather conditions.
The World Cup events in Crans-Montana have become a delicate balancing act between mourning and sport in the wake of the New Year’s Eve fire tragedy. Light grey posters replaced the usual colourful advertising at the finish area, bearing the message “Our thoughts are with you” in four languages.
Daniel Bollinger of the organising committee told Swiss public broadcaster SRF that cancelling the races had been discussed in advance. The decision was ultimately made to proceed, but without festivities or loud race celebrations, he said. Crans-Montana tourism director Bruno Huggler added: “There can be positive emotions without forgetting the tragedy of New Year’s Eve.”
The Swatch Group has endured a difficult year, reporting significantly lower sales and profits for 2025.
Sales fell by 5.9% year on year to CHF6.28 billion ($8.17 billion), the company announced on Friday. Operating profit dropped from CHF304 million to CHF135 million, leaving a margin of just 2.1%. Net profit totalled CHF25 million – a decline of 89%.
According to Swiss public broadcaster SRF, weak demand in China and Asia more broadly is the main reason for the downturn. The watch business in the region had already struggled in the first half of the year, a trend now reflected in the full-year results. The Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) also points to foreign trade figures, showing that watch exports were hit hard by Switzerland’s punitive tariffs in 2025.
Despite the slump, Swatch plans to pay shareholders a dividend of CHF4.50 per bearer share, unchanged from the previous year. The group remains cautiously optimistic, citing positive momentum in the second half of the year and acceleration in the final quarter. This trend continued into January, it said. For 2026, Swatch expects “positive development in sales and volumes”.
Translated using AI/amva/sb
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