Switzerland Today
Dear Swiss Abroad,
What do you miss most about Switzerland in your country of residence? For many, it's not the mountains or the snow, but certain favourite foods. Currently, the high cost of Swiss cheese abroad is making headlines. Can you guess how much more expensive Gruyère cheese is in Kenya compared to Switzerland?
Warm greetings from Bern
Those who live abroad often miss home – but the most painful thing for many emigrants is looking into the fridge: what is considered a staple food in Switzerland often becomes a luxury good abroad. Take the example of Gruyère cheese.
In Kenya, Gruyère is becoming an exclusive delicacy: 240 grams cost the equivalent of around CHF20 there – more than four times the Swiss price, as the news portal Nau.ch reports today. Swiss expats living in Nairobi can only treat themselves to this luxury titbit every six to 12 months. Other expats around the world report similar sums for a slice of home.
According to the Gruyère cheesemakers association, the extreme prices result mainly from transport costs and the strategies of local traders, who achieve significantly higher profit margins abroad than those in Switzerland. Nevertheless, the organisation sees “the cheesy withdrawal symptoms” of the Swiss Abroad as a positive signal for the high esteem in which its products are held.
In some cases, the longing is so great that some Swiss do not even want to emigrate for fear of withdrawal symptoms. Others rely on pragmatism: for example, a Swiss Abroad in Argentina refrains from expensive imports. He says: “A cool Chasselas from Lavaux with Gruyère and Emmental in warm Argentine temperatures tastes different than at the lake in Cully” on Lake Geneva.
The canton of Bern voted on Sunday: The cantonal parliament is moving to the right but the government remains a leftist bastion as before. How does that fit together? In Switzerland’s second-largest canton in terms of population, there is a deep rift, and in the end it was a massive mobilisation in the city of Bern that secured the left’s third seat in government.
Despite a massive shift to the right in the cantonal parliament in which the Swiss People’s Party gained seven seats, according to SRF, the composition of the Bernese cantonal government remains unchanged. The conservative attack on a fifth seat in the cantonal government narrowly failed. As Der Bund comments, the proven “4-3 model” (four conservative/centre and three leftwing) continues to reflect the social reality of the canton and ensures political stability in turbulent times.
The city of Bern tipped the scales: while the cantonal voter turnout was only 34.3%, the federal city mobilised above average with 42.3%. This “urban wall” narrowly secured the newly elected Social Democrat Reto Müller the decisive seat against the Swiss People’s Party. Political scientist Adrian Vatter attributes this to the “momentum” of previous national referendums, which brought young people in particular to the polls.
The most prominent newly elected member is former parliamentarian Aline Trede of the left-wing Green Party who is giving up national politics to represent canton Bern. According to Blick, she sees the conservative majority as sporty and wants to rely on cooperation instead of blockade. The brilliant result of the day, however, was achieved by Astrid Bärtschi of the Centre Party with the most votes. According to media analyses, this underlines the strong desire for a pragmatic policy of the Centre in the canton of Bern.
Elections were also held in the canton of Vaud at the weekend, especially since a second round of voting had become necessary for the replacement election of a member of the cantonal government. Here, the experienced former Social Democratic parliamentarian Roger Nordmann won the vacant government seat.
It sounded like the perfect solution for the energy transition: solar panels along the highways. But years after a strong start, disillusionment prevails. The government’s solar offensive is stuck in a traffic jam – so far, not a single plant is connected to the grid.
The construction of solar systems on the motorway is far more complex than on house roofs because of a lack of standard solutions for fastening, writes the Neue Zürcher Zeitung today. Therefore, the costs for security and grid connections are much higher. In addition, existing noise barriers often have to be structurally reinforced at great expense in order to be able to bear the additional weight of the panels at all.
With the falling market prices for electricity, the interest of investing companies is also dwindling massively. The pioneers have already shelved their projects, as the feed-in is hardly financially worthwhile. In addition, legal hurdles make it difficult to sell electricity directly to local businesses or households in the immediate vicinity.
Industry representatives are now calling on the government to use the electricity for its own infrastructure. If the Federal Roads Office (FEDRO) were to use the energy for tunnel ventilation, for example, there would be no network fees, which would make the projects profitable. Without such an intervention, the prestige project threatens to fail for good, according to the NZZ.
The Swiss Sports Awards 2025 on Sunday not only announced the winners, but also surprises – and proved that there are often very down-to-earth stories behind world-class performances.
Marco Odermatt remains the measure of all things. With his fifth consecutive award as an athlete of the year, the ski star extended his record streak, according to SRF. Despite dominance, he showed a sense of humour: When asked about his future at 50, he answered dryly with: “Hairdresser” – an allusion to the live head shave of his teammate Franjo von Allmen during the gala, as Blick reported.
Ditaji Kambundji proved that world-class and craftsmanship are not mutually exclusive. The first Swiss hurdles world champion celebrated her first trophy as Sportswoman of the Year. The 23-year-old made her gala dress for the occasion herself.
Géraldine Reuteler achieved a historic milestone. The footballer was the first woman in Swiss team sport to be named “Most Valuable Player of the Year”. According to Blick, she was the face of last summer’s home European Championship and was voted Switzerland’s best player after every group game – something that has never happened before in the history of the European Championship.
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