Cantons Bern and Jura approve deal to change town’s affiliation

Moutier lies close to the Bern-Jura border in northwestern Switzerland. Keystone-SDA

Moutier is set to move from Bern to Jura on January 1, 2026, after voters in both regions approved a concordat setting out the terms of the transfer.

In canton Bern the rate of approval was 83.2%, in canton Jura 72.9%. The last hurdle for the issue to be fully settled is for the change to be ratified by Swiss parliamentarians next year.

The town of Moutier, the region of the Bernese Jura, and the three Jura municipalities concerned all approved the document, which should now put an end to the Jura question – i.e. the turbulent chapter of Swiss history which saw sometimes violent efforts by separatists in the canton, which became independent in 1979.

+ Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox

The Concordat settles the main administrative and political points relating to Moutier’s change of affiliation.

Adapted from French by DeepL/dos

How we work

This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.

If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, if you want to learn more about how we use technology, click here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to [e-mail].