The week in Switzerland
Dear Swiss Abroad,
Wearing a hat is often a subtle style statement, sending a message of confidence and individuality. Swiss President Guy Parmelin decided to dial the subtlety down to zero when he appeared at Switzerland’s World Cup game on Thursday. But his “Switzerland Great Since 1291” cap worked: Switzerland beat Algeria 2-0.
Swiss Economics Minister Guy Parmelin has failed to achieve a breakthrough in the tariff dispute with the United States. Criticism of the Swiss negotiating strategy is growing louder in Switzerland.
Following a meeting with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in Washington on Monday, Parmelin reiterated that Switzerland was adhering to the memorandum of understanding from November and expected the same from the US. “A deal’s a deal,” he told Swiss public broadcaster SRF on Tuesday.
Several parliamentarians subsequently criticised Parmelin for making concessions to Washington – for example removing barriers to imports of US cars and medical devices – without securing commitments in return. They also accuse the government of sidestepping parliament, by abandoning plans for a trade agreement in favour of amending an ordinance, which doesn’t require parliamentary approval.
“Switzerland’s predicament is also of its own making,” reckoned the Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ), which said that while one can certainly be annoyed by the “unpredictable” policies of US President Donald Trump, a bit of self-criticism wouldn’t go amiss.
“Often, there seems to be a lack of willingness [in parliament] to find quick, pragmatic solutions,” the NZZ wrote in an analysis on Tuesday. “Some politicians would rather see the export industry struggle than accept that one day someone might drive a newly approved Elon Musk Cybertruck to the supermarket and buy an American chlorinated chicken.”
The government and parliament must now close ranks and find compromises in order to meet US demands, the Zurich paper said. “Only in this way will our country’s export sector – which is so vital to us – have a realistic chance of securing a deal it can reasonably live with.”
“The Swiss remain the richest in the world” was the headline in the Corriere del Ticino on Tuesday, basing its report on a UBS study. Good news, surely? Sort of.
Swiss adults have an average wealth equivalent to $910,382 (CHF733,000), according to the UBS Global Wealth Report. This puts them comfortably ahead of runners-up the United States ($696,277) and Luxembourg ($654,732).
But a look at some other Swiss headlines shows how the numbers can be interpreted in different ways: “The rich have become even richer” (SRF), “Average Swiss wealth shrinks” (Blick), “In Switzerland the rich keep getting richer as the middle class pays the price” (24heures), and “The Swiss are still the wealthiest people on Earth – but there’s a catch” (Watson).
The catch hinges on the definition of average. If you’re talking about the mean (the sum of a group of numbers divided by the number of numbers), the Swiss are indeed world champions; if you’re talking about the median (the middle value – half are richer, half are poorer), Switzerland ranks only eighth with $145,555 per person. Luxembourg leads the way here with $394,005, followed by Belgium ($277,166) and Australia ($210,783). In other words, some very rich people in Switzerland are skewing the picture and, as 20Minutes wrote, “inequality is on the rise”.
The UBS report noted that average (mean) wealth per adult grew by just over 11% in real terms between 2000 and 2025, while real median wealth fell by just under 15%. As Blick pointed out, “Switzerland has the highest average wealth in the world, but the country’s residents have nevertheless become significantly poorer”.
Should trans women who look male be allowed into women-only bathing areas? An incident in Bern this week split political camps and generations.
“This farce could be dismissed as a minor culture war waged by radical trans activists,” wrote a (male) columnist in the Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) on Wednesday. “Yet in the gender-conscious corridors of power and newsrooms, people are only too happy to turn it into a scandal.”
On Sunday a couple of women in the women-only, clothing-optional “Paradiesli” section of the Marzilibad had objected to the presence of a trans woman who displayed male physical characteristics (no breasts, body hair, a penis). Pool staff asked her to leave, she insisted on her right to stay – with other bathers coming to her defence; the police were called, a skirmish ensued, and the trans woman was led away in handcuffs.
The following day the Bern authorities apologised to the woman, saying “all people who identify as women and live as such” have access to the Paradiesli.
On Tuesday, a woman of retirement age – who was one of the women who felt uncomfortable – explained that she had been abused as a child and came to the Paradiesli to find a safe space among women. She said in the Tages-Anzeiger that she felt particularly shaken by the fact that she was verbally attacked by young women who had shown solidarity with the trans woman. “They said that we older people should get out of Paradiesli.”
“What matters more,” asked the (female) editor-in-chief of the Tages-Anzeiger. “The needs of the women who felt uncomfortable, or the needs of the trans woman who insisted on her rights? From a broader societal perspective, the answer is relatively simple: if women feel disturbed in the safe spaces they have created for themselves, this must be given greater weight than the freedom of a single person with male physical characteristics to be present in those spaces. After all, nudity in public spaces is not a universal human right.”
In an analysis, Swissinfo said the incident illustrates one thing above all: “Swiss society has not yet found a unified approach to dealing with trans people.”
Switzerland have qualified for the knockout Round of 16 at the 2026 football World Cup after beating Algeria 2-0 in Vancouver.
Facing their former manager Vladimir Petkovic, the Swiss lived up to their status and ambitions to finally win a knockout match in a modern World Cup. Victory was secured thanks to goals from Breel Embolo (10th minute) and Dan Ndoye (46th minute).
“I was really desperate for that goal, and sometimes when you try too hard, it just doesn’t come,” Ndoye said. “Our strength lies in knowing how to play as a team. A message for the supporters in the fan zones across Switzerland? Enjoy your croissants and pains au chocolat – we hope to make your dreams come true even more!”
The match, which kicked off at 5am Swiss time on Friday, was watched in the stadium by Swiss President Guy Parmelin, on a ten-day trade mission to North America. Parmelin, wearing a bright red cap with a “Switzerland Great Since 1291” slogan – look familiar? – met national team manager Murat Yakin on the pitch before kick-off. During the match he sat next to Gianni Infantino, the head of FIFA and considered a close associate of Donald Trump.
Switzerland will play their Round of 16 match, again in Vancouver, on Tuesday (10pm, Swiss time) against either Colombia or Ghana.
The week ahead
Tuesday is World Chocolate Day, which is apparently the anniversary of when chocolate was first introduced to Europe in 1550.
Around 9,000 people will swim across Lake Zurich on Wednesday at 2pm, weather permitting. It had been scheduled for last Wednesday, but the risk of thunderstorms was considered too high.
The Locarno Film Festival will hold a press conference on Thursday, revealing the contents of its 79th edition, which runs from August 5-15.
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