The week in Switzerland
Dear Swiss Abroad,
Even though the rain has become more frequent, the drought continues to grip Switzerland. This week, the issue has reached the political arena: parliamentarians are calling for an urgent debate during the upcoming autumn session. And the Swiss president has expressed his shock at the extreme weather.
Meanwhile, a death in canton Ticino remains a mystery. A woman believed to have published a telephone conversation in which a top local politician allegedly incited violence has been found dead in Lake Lugano.
Even though the heatwave is now behind us, the drought remains a pressing issue in Switzerland. Politicians have taken action this week. And the Swiss president has described the situation as a shock.
Four of the six parliamentary groups in the Federal Parliament agree that the issues of water, agriculture and climate adaptation should be on the agenda for the upcoming session. During an urgent debate, the government is to be called to account and pressed to take concrete measures against drought and future heatwaves.
Last week, the government said there was no need to declare a state of emergency because of the drought. The situation could be “managed using existing structures”, it said.
Swiss President and Economics Minister Guy Parmelin expects that “further irrigation and storage projects of this kind will now be put forward”, similar to those that have been in place for some time in canton Vaud’s Lavaux wine region, he told Swiss public broadcaster SRF.
An improved federal budget forecast this week has sparked a debate over additional defence spending. Instead of a budgeted deficit of just over CHF700 million ($875 million), the government is forecasting a surplus of around CHF800 million in 2026 – primarily thanks to higher corporate tax revenues.
For this reason, the government is requesting CHF970 million from parliament for additional defence spending. Among other things, the money is intended to pre-finance the procurement of ground-based air defence and radar systems, as well as systems to defend against mini-drones.
The aim is to secure procurement at an early stage, given the long lead times for such equipment. In addition, CHF100 million has been earmarked to improve the protection of more than 60 army bases.
Swiss public broadcaster SRF regards the move as a fiscal manoeuvre by Defence Minister Martin Pfister. Left-wing and Green parties criticise the fact that the money is not being channelled into climate protection, education, development cooperation or debt reduction. Conservative security policymakers, on the other hand, welcome the additional funding for the army. In the long term, however, the financing of the planned military build-up remains unresolved.
Restitution with a twist: instead of returning it to Africa, canton Basel City has returned a 15,000-year-old female statuette to Schaffhausen. It is considered highly significant to the history of this northeastern Swiss canton.
The story begins in 1954. An amateur researcher found a small statuette among the spoil from earlier excavations in the Schweizersbild area of Schaffhausen. Archaeologists had carried out extensive excavations there from 1891 onwards but had overlooked the figure. In 1975, the man donated the female sculpture to the Museum of Cultures in Basel.
After canton Schaffhausen requested its return in 2025, the Basel cantonal government agreed this spring to a voluntary, permanent transfer. Schaffhausen had argued that the figure, made of a black fossilised material, was of great significance to understanding the canton’s history.
The figure, dating from the Late Palaeolithic period, is now back in canton Schaffhausen. On Wednesday Conradin Cramer, president of the Basel City government, presented the small statuette to Cornelia Stamm Hurter, president of the Schaffhausen government.
The mysterious death of a woman in Lake Lugano is causing a stir beyond canton Ticino. She is believed to be the woman who published the audio recording that prompted Ticino cantonal president Claudio Zali to resign.
The cause of death of the 52-year-old woman remains unclear. The woman, believed to be an animal rights activist, had reported being attacked around ten days before her death. According to sources close to the investigation, there is currently no known link to the Zali affair.
The audio recording had placed Zali under intense political pressure. During a telephone conversation, he allegedly advised an acquaintance to hit a suspected stalker and spoke of an assault he himself had committed. Zali denies the allegations and has criticised the illegal publication of the recording.
Investigations are also underway against the Lega politician on suspicion of abuse of office and attempted coercion. Following calls from all political parties, Zali announced that he would resign at the end of September. The presumption of innocence applies.
The week ahead
On Sunday, the “Traversée de la rade à la nage” will take place in Geneva – the traditional open-water swim across Lake Geneva. Hundreds of participants will swim around 1.8 kilometres across the entrance to Geneva harbour.
On Monday, the trial of five people charged with multiple counts of manslaughter in connection with the rockslide on Piz Cengalo near Bondo, in canton Graubünden, begins in Pontresina. On August 23, 2017, eight hikers lost their lives there. The question is whether the paths in the valley should have been closed before the disaster. The trial is expected to last until Wednesday.
On Thursday, the first symposium “For a Truly Multilingual Switzerland” will take place in Bern. The event will also mark the 30th anniversary of the Forum for Bilingualism.
We have only just witnessed a spectacular solar eclipse here in Switzerland. On Friday at 4:33am, a partial lunar eclipse will be visible across the country.
Translated from German, sub-edited by Alexandra MV Andrist/ts
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