The week in Switzerland
Dear Swiss Abroad,
The Swiss government has adopted a jet-setting lifestyle. The seven members of the Federal Council took off exactly 301 times in 2025. One person in particular stands out. Read to find out who collected the most air miles.
Warm greetings from Bern
If they were in a frequent flyer programme, our government ministers would probably belong to the top tier. In 2025, the seven ministers flew a combined 301 times on the official government jet.
“As a government minister, you learn to fly,” comments Blick. The daily has evaluated the latest list of official flights, most of which were flown in the official jet or helicopter. Accounting for between 25 and 29 flights, the trips of Justice Minister Beat Jans, Environment Minister Albert Rösti and Interior Minister Elisabeth Baume-Schneider are relatively modest jet-setters.
Official duties meant that Finance Minister (who was also Swiss president in 2025) Karin Keller-Sutter and Economics Minister Guy Parmelin had to travel to the US several times to negotiate tariffs on Swiss exports.
One person stands out from this exclusive group of mileage collectors. With touchdowns in Brazil, Peru, Jordan, Iraq, Japan, China and Malaysia, among others, Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis was Top Gun with a total of 85 flights. The Ticino native also used the official jet for a relatively large number of domestic flights, which prompted the Blick to call it “Taxi Ticino”.
How safe is our country in these uncertain times? The 2026 Opportunity Barometer reveals a paradox: the Swiss feel safe, even though they no longer trust their own army to defend the country conventionally in an emergency.
A majority of 73% doubt the army’s defence capabilities, but 90% of those surveyed feel safe in Switzerland. This was shown on Monday by the so-called Opportunity Barometer of the polling institute Sotomo. This resilience is primarily due to trust in the rule of law and political stability, and not the preparedeness of the Swiss army.
More than half of those surveyed call for closer cooperation with the EU and NATO. According to the survey, security is increasingly understood as a joint project with European partner countries that share the same values.
According to this survey, the stance on neutrality is also changing. Only 22% still see it as a main pillar of their security. Instead, 56% are in favour of a flexible model to enable cooperation and strengthen their own defence industry. The Swiss thus seem to prefer a new, pragmatic realism instead of rigid principles.
Imagine a Swiss pope called Odermatt. He actually exists within the Catholic sect of the Palmarians, which has made headlines this week. And no, he is not Swiss ski star Marco Odermatt…
It began over a controversy over swimming lessons. Parents who belong to the Palmarian sect had filed a complaint with the Federal Court to excuse their son from swimming lessons. The court rejected the complaint, whereupon the topic found its way into the media.
Like me, you have probably never heard of the Palmarians before. According to the media reports, this is an ultra-conservative splinter group of the Catholic Church from Spain. Experts describe the small community as “sect-like and politically extreme right-wing”, as 20 Minuten writes. For example, the church collects 10% of the income of its members.
And once again, many were amazed when the newspapers wrote that a Swiss was the “pope” of this group, which has only a few dozen members in Switzerland and around 1,500 worldwide. His name is Markus Joseph Odermatt alias Petrus III. His brother Armin Odermatt left this church 30 years ago and is now a member of the cantonal government of the Swiss People’s Party in the canton of Nidwalden. He warned in the press this week of the consequences of this sect for the children of the sect members.
Four young women caused a sensation in Calgary, Canada, early Monday morning Swiss time. They overcame the experienced Canadians and snatched World Championship gold in curling.
For the young team, it was the first World Cup participation and the first international final at elite level ever. The curlers captained by Xenia Schwaller are in their early twenties and gave the older and more experienced Canadians a hard time.
In the tenth and decisive end, the reigning Swiss champions finally took away all hope from their competitors, as SRF News writes: “With a monster takeout with the second-to-last stone, Schwaller ensured the preliminary decision, and shortly afterwards the World Championship title was a fact.”
In the run-up to the participation in the World Championships, the decision not to field the Olympic silver winning team of Milano Cortina captained by Silvana Tirinzoni was criticised by some. But in curling, the team that wins the Swiss championship is the one that takes part in the World Championships. The result in Calgary now shows that this rule makes sense.
The Week Ahead
From Sunday, March 29, daylight saving time will apply in Switzerland. So keep this in mind if you want to call your relatives in Switzerland.
On Tuesday, the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) will publish the latest figures on the Swiss community abroad. Of course, we will report comprehensively on the statistics of the Swiss Abroad for 2025.
Also on Tuesday, the Montreux Jazz Festival will reveal the programme of its 60th edition.
A media conference in Liestal on Tuesday is likely to be interesting, where the colonial past of Basel-Country be illuminated.
Finally, on Thursday, demographic data for 2025 will be released, including migration statistics.
Translated using AI/ac
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