Switzerland Today
Dear Swiss Abroad,
Are you active in a club where you live now? Switzerland is considered the country of clubs par excellence: from football or volleyball clubs to tall people's clubs or the association for the protection of garden gnomes, there is something for everyone in this country.
But sports clubs in particular are increasingly confronted with a problem: there is a shortage of sports halls in Switzerland. You can read about the solutions affected clubs have come up with in this briefing.
Good reading!
Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow today.
Right at the beginning of the meeting, Cassis stressed that he was not speaking on behalf of Switzerland, but in his capacity as the OSCE chair: “We are here to open doors.”
In the run-up to the meeting, Laurent Goetschel, professor of political science at the University of Basel, stressed to SRF that one should not expect too much from this visit to Moscow. This is mainly because the OSCE – the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe – has lost influence. Nevertheless, the trip is important to prepare the role of the organisation after a possible ceasefire, says Goetschel.
Both parties have already commented briefly on this after the meeting. Lavrov declared that the OSCE is in “danger of self-destruction”. Nevertheless, Moscow appreciates the interest of Switzerland, which chairs the organisation this year, in resuming dialogue with the Russian Federation. Cassis wrote on Platform X that the need for dialogue and inclusive multilateralism to end the war had been discussed. Also discussed was how the OSCE could serve as a platform to facilitate this and to support efforts to achieve a just and lasting peace in Ukraine based on international law.
On March 8, Switzerland will vote on four issues. Today we look at the financing of the referendum campaigns.
As the data published today by the Swiss Federal Audit Office shows, the SBC media licence fee initiative saw the highest spending. The initiative wants to reduce the media licence fee from CHF335 to CHF200 per year. The opponents declared spending power of CHF3.88 million for their referendum campaign – twice as much as the supporters, who have CHF1.89 million at their disposal.
The Social Democratic Party and the Swiss Sovereign Media Association account for a good half of the funds of the ‘No’ camp. Other funders include the association “Save Our Films” or the sports committee against the halving initiative, among others. In the ‘Yes’ camp, a good three-quarters of the money available comes from the group “CHF200 is enough”, which is made up of supporters from the Swiss People’s Party, the Young Radicals and the Swiss Trade Association.
Less money will be invested in the campaigns of the other three vote topics. In the case of the Climate Fund Initiative, the ‘No’ camp has a budget of CHF1.4 million, twice as large as that of the supporters. The budgets for individual taxation remain below the million franc mark: CHF550,000 for the pro camp and CHF388,000 for the opposition. According to the Swiss Federal Audit Office, no budget figures have been received for the cash initiative.
Switzerland has had transparency rules for political financing since 2023. These apply, for example, to campaigns in national elections and referendums. Campaigns that spend more than CHF50,000 must disclose their total income and all donations over CHF15,000.
All-clear in Brienz: The Graubünden mountain village is not only accessible to all people again, it can also be safely inhabited again in the long term. For all those who see their future elsewhere, the resettlement project continues.
The danger situation has changed, experts say. Consequently, there would be no longer a threat of evacuation in the next few years. According to geologist Reto Thöny, this is due to two reasons: the success of a new drainage tunnel and the rockfalls last November.
Those who no longer see a future for themselves in Brienz can move elsewhere. The municipality of Albula is sticking to the resettlement project. Those affected have until March 9 to register for resettlement. Those who have already registered – around a third of the population – have the opportunity to reconsider their decision on the basis of the new findings.
However, there is also criticism of the resettlement project, for example because of the bureaucratic hurdles for moving or the financial terms. Blick reports on the plight of an affected person who feels he has been treated unfairly because he cannot be offered the same amount of land at a new location.
The around 100,000 clubs in Switzerland are part of the Swiss social fabric. But sports clubs in particular are confronted with a new problem: a lack of halls.
Whether floorball, handball or volleyball: In many places in Switzerland, there is a lack of gyms for sporting activities. As evaluations by CH Media show, there is a shortage of new buildings. Since the 1970s, fewer and fewer new halls have been built, and in the last 25 years an average of around 40 have been put into operation per year. At the same time, the number of club members is growing, which increases the pressure on sports facilities.
That’s why sports associations such as Swiss Volley, Swiss Floorball or the Swiss Gymnastics Federation have come together to form a working group. Their goal: to use the existing infrastructure more efficiently.
Longer opening hours, for example, could provide a remedy, but this in turn leads to longer working hours for caretakers. “The later it gets, the less attractive the job becomes – and the higher the wage and night work bonuses,” says Florian Mathys, board member of the Association of Swiss Sports Offices. The introduction of automatic locking systems could help here, but “we are not yet as far along as we could be”.
Other approaches of the sports clubs affect training directly, so strength exercises, warm-ups or meetings can be moved to the corridor. Or it is thinking beyond the classic gyms: the army already makes certain sports facilities available to local clubs and the Migros subsidiary Miduca has also deposited a non-binding offer of support with the cantonal sports umbrella association at the Zurich site.
Translated using AI/ac
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
