Deiss speaks out on foreigners initiative
The Swiss foreign minister, Joseph Deiss, has reiterated the government's opposition to an initiative on reducing the number of foreigners in Switzerland to 18 per cent.
Speaking in Zurich on Wednesday, Deiss said that if the measure was adopted in a referendum scheduled for Sunday, it would send “a false signal to Europe”.
He warned that such a measure could give Switzerland more trouble with the bilateral treaties which the country has signed with the European Union.
Nonetheless, Deiss conceded that Switzerland could do more to facilitate the naturalisation of foreigners in Switzerland: “I think we still have to improve on that issue.”
Switzerland has a resident foreign population of 19.3 per cent.
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