The week in Switzerland
Dear Swiss Abroad,
Geneva, Valais, Milano Cortina and Bern generated headlines in Switzerland this week. Internationally, the peace negotiations between Ukraine, Russia and the US on the Ukraine war and the nuclear negotiations between the USA and Iran, both of which took place in Geneva, generated the most news.
Avalanches and heavy snowfall in Valais meant that several villages were cut off from the outside world for a few days or even had to be evacuated.
Warm greetings from Bern
Geneva was the focus of international attention this week, with the peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia as well as the nuclear negotiations between the US and Iran. Even though hardly any results were achieved, the media assessed the meetings as significant successes for Swiss diplomacy.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, representatives of Ukraine, Russia and the US met in Geneva to negotiate peace in the Ukraine war. They ended on the second day after just under two hours and brought little progress. However, it is already clear that Switzerland will remain in demand. “I would like to underline that the next meeting will also take place in Switzerland,” various media quoted Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky as saying.
At the nuclear talks between the US and Iran in Geneva, the media spoke of a first diplomatic rapprochement. On Tuesday, the delegations agreed on basic “guiding principles” for further action. They now want to exchange draft texts for a possible agreement and set a date for a third round of talks.
With these two meetings, Switzerland was able to return to the international diplomatic stage, as my colleague Dorian Burkhalter writes. It had previously been overshadowed by Istanbul and Abu Dhabi.
The federal government reports a surplus in its tax revenue for 2025. Instead of falling an anticipated CHF800 million in the red, the Federal Council reported a surplus of CHF300 million this week. This is mainly due to a windfall from the canton of Geneva.
The Swiss government suddenly has one billion francs more in its coffers than expected. However, this is not due to prudent spending, but primarily thanks to additional income from Geneva. For years, the canton had failed to issue provisional tax invoices to large companies, namely those in the energy and raw materials sectors.
The total budget of the federal government is almost CHF90 billion. Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter spoke of a “precision landing” in Bern on Wednesday. However, she pointed out that without austerity packages, deficits of two to four billion francs would be imminent by 2029. “Unfortunately, the balanced accounting result for 2025 does not change the necessity of the relief package 27,” the Tages-Anzeiger quotes Keller-Sutter as saying.
While the political left speaks of “false forecasts”, the Federal Council is sticking to its tough austerity course. There is not much breathing room as massive expenditures for the army and the 13th pension payments are imminent. Even a VAT increase would only stabilise the budget temporarily, it was said.
Valais reported the highest avalanche warning level 5 on Tuesday. This is very rarely proclaimed in Switzerland. Avalanches caused train derailments, injuries and closed valleys in the southern Swiss canton.
A lot of snow and a storm caused a critical avalanche situation in various mountain areas of Switzerland this week. On Tuesday, the highest warning level 5 was in force in parts of Valais.
In the municipality of Orsières, around 50 residents had to be evacuated from a danger zone for safety reasons. In addition, there were considerable traffic disruptions in the canton; a train derailed near Goppenstein, with an avalanche being investigated as a possible cause. Five people were injured. And near Randa, a powder avalanche caught a train of the Matterhorn Gotthard Railway. Nobody was harmed.
In the meantime, most of the closures have been lifted or bypasses have been set up. However, disruptions must always be expected in rail traffic in Valais.
Milano Cortina also made some headlines this week, most of them positive for Swiss athletes. At the Olympic Winter Games, after the men’s rain of medals in the previous week, the women also delivered.
On Monday, Loïc Meillard completed his set of medals at the Olympics: After silver in the team combined and bronze in the giant slalom, he won the gold medal in the slalom. This makes him the third alpine athlete after Franjo von Allmen and Marco Odermatt to win three medals at these Games.
And this week, the Swiss women finally provided cause for celebration. In the sprint race in ski mountaineering, which is Olympic Games for the first time, Marianne Fatton (Neuchâtel) made sports history on Thursday with the gold medal. On Wednesday morning, Nadine Fähndrich (Lucerne) and Nadja Kälin (Graubünden) had already won the silver medal in the Olympic team sprint. In the afternoon, Camille Rast from Valais followed suit and won silver in the slalom.
In ice hockey, the women won the bronze medal on Thursday with a late win against Sweden. The Swiss hockey players were unlucky. The national team narrowly lost to Finland in the quarter-finals on Wednesday evening.
Translated using AI/ac
The week ahead
On Monday morning, the Basel Carnival begins at 4am with the traditional Morgestraich. Meanwhile, Switzerland’s largest carnival parade is part of the intangible UNESCO World Heritage Site. For the people of Basel, this marks the beginning of the “three most beautiful days”.
On Tuesday, this year’s Honorary Award of the Swiss Film Awards will be announced. The prize, which is endowed with CHF30,000, honours outstanding personalities whose oeuvre or extraordinary commitment has had a significant impact on Swiss film culture.
Also on Tuesday, is an event for fans of literature in Zurich: Max Frisch’s school-leaving essay from 1930 will be published for the first time – in a booklet for the 175th anniversary of the Lehrmittelverlag Zurich.
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