Switzerland and Germany target extremism
Switzerland and Germany plan to work together in the struggle against right-wing extremism. The interior minister, Ruth Dreifuss, visiting Berlin, said Switzerland is taking the problem of neo-nazism very seriously.
After a meeting with the German education minister, Edelgard Buhlmahn, Dreifuss said that the fight against the use of the Internet by the extreme right was particularly important. While Switzerland already had anti-racist legislation in place, it was impossible to work alone, she said, calling for more international co-operation.
The minister also said that the Swiss extreme right was extremely fragmented, with up to 800 skinheads claiming to espouse neo-nazi views.
During her visit, Dreifuss also met several Swiss artists working in Berlin. On Wednesday she is due to receive the Carl Bertelsmann prize.
The value of the prize is 150,000 German marks, which Dreifuss has says she plans to use to fund a debate on health service reform in Switzerland.
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