Switzerland Today
Dear Swiss Abroad,
The fight against domestic and sexual violence remains one of Switzerland’s major societal challenges – and the latest assessment by authorities shows that, despite new measures, the problem has not diminished.
Kind regards from Bern.
As my colleague Christian Raaflaub announced in yesterday’s briefing, the special session of the House of Representatives is taking place this week.
Yesterday, the House of Representatives set a historic marker by explicitly recognising the injustice committed against Yenish and Sinti in Switzerland as a “crime against humanity”. From 1926 to 1973, authorities, as well as private and church organisations, removed thousands of children from their families in an attempt to suppress the Yenish way of life. For those affected, the declaration is above all symbolic – even if it remains politically controversial.
The legal status of the two Basel cantons also sparked debate in parliament. The House of Representatives rejected an initiative from Basel City calling for the two cantons to no longer be treated as half-cantons. Basel City and Basel Country will thus still have one seat each in the Senate. The majority pointed to federal balance and historical precedent as reasons to stick to the status quo.
The second stage of the “nursing initiative”, approved by voters in 2021, also took centre stage today. The House of Representatives is debating improvements to working conditions in the care sector, such as more predictable schedules. A parliamentary committee however wants to water down the federal government’s draft. While the left warns of a dilution of the initiative, the centre-right points to excessive costs. Care organisations have stepped up pressure by submitting a petition of around 190,000 signatures.
This morning, the House of Representatives significantly weakened key elements of the bill: maximum working hours remain at 50 per week, and further improvements to working conditions were rejected. While the Swiss government had proposed shorter working hours and better compensation, a conservative majority prevailed, citing costs and staffing constraints.
Debates in the House of Representatives were still ongoing at the time of writing on Tuesday.
Five years after adopting the “Roadmap against domestic and sexual violence”, the Swiss federal government and cantons took stock yesterday and outlined next steps.
Despite new federal and cantonal measures, domestic violence remains a growing problem in Switzerland. While protective mechanisms have been expanded, many victims still only receive help after violence has escalated.
The roadmap includes better coordination between authorities, more shelters, and a new national helpline (142), which will be available around the clock from May 1. The legal framework is also to be strengthened further. Officials stressed that tackling domestic and sexual violence remains a long-term challenge.
Criticism came from specialist organisations and politicians, who say measures often come too late and fail to reflect realities in private spaces. In 2025, more than 22,000 offences related to domestic and sexual violence were recorded – a new high. Experts are calling for stronger prevention and earlier intervention.
Pressure is mounting on parliament in the debate over banking rules. Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter has criticised unusually strong lobbying by UBS, while the bank rejects the planned tightening as excessive.
Keller-Sutter says parliamentarians are under pressure from UBS. Such intensive lobbying by a private company is unusual in Switzerland, she told Blick. Some lawmakers have expressed concern that the bank could cut its donations to political parties.
The minister has defended the proposed tightening of capital requirement rules as a lesson from the Credit Suisse crisis. The measures are based on detailed analysis and aim to close existing gaps, she explained. The Swiss government has fulfilled its responsibility, she said – the decision now lies with parliament.
Ultimately, it is a question of principle: should the interests of taxpayers or those of UBS prevail? The bank, along with business associations and centre-right parties, argues the proposals are excessive and could harm Switzerland’s competitiveness.
After months of uncertainty, a Swiss climate start-up in the United States has received a boost and may now be able to move forward with its flagship project.
Swiss carbon removal firm Climeworks looks set to build a CO2 capture plant in Louisiana after the US Department of Energy gave the green light for “Project Cypress”.
With the inauguration of US President Donald Trump, the funding previously granted under the Biden administration was on the brink of cancellation. Now, however, Climeworks aims to further improve and scale up its direct air capture (DAC) technology. The method involves extracting CO2 from the air and storing it in the ground. This is considered expensive and is not yet available on a large scale.
The project is part of a multi-billion-dollar programme, with up to $600 million (CHF474 million) in public investment possibly on offer. Many details remain unclear. Climeworks, a spin-off from federal technology institute ETH Zurich, was founded in 2009 and has operated a US headquarters in Texas since 2024.
Translated using AI/amva
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