Cluster: Swiss Abroad

Parliament backs funds for much-needed crèches

This content was published on Oct 3, 2006 After several months of ping-pong, the House of Representatives agreed on Monday to follow the Senate by approving a SFr120 million ($96.5 million) credit for the creation of nursery places over the next four years. Young families in Switzerland face a major lack of crèches. It is estimated that 50,000 places are needed to meet…

Swiss Politics

Weapons ban wins support among young Swiss

This content was published on Oct 2, 2006 The demand was one in a series of petitions approved by the 15th Youth Session held in the mountain resort of Laax in southeastern Switzerland on behalf of the federal parliament. The petition, which won a majority of the 180 representatives in Monday’s plenary session, wants to outlaw firearms, including army weapons, in private homes.…

Swiss Politics

New army structure comes under fire

This content was published on Oct 1, 2006 Opponents, mainly from the rightwing Swiss People’s Party, have criticised the reorganisation as hasty, unreasonable and even unconstitutional. The defence ministry has also come under fire from the three other main political parties, including the centre-left Social Democrats. The debate in the House of Representatives during the final week of parliament’s autumn session comes three…

Swiss Politics

The cradle of international humanitarian law

This content was published on Oct 1, 2006 As depository of the Geneva Conventions, Switzerland partly owes its peaceful reputation to Henry Dunant, whose experiences of the Battle of Solferino would have a profound effect on his life. The Battle of Solferino was a violent confrontation between the Franco-Sardinian Alliance and the Austrian army for the independence of Italy that was fought on…

Swiss Politics

Greens get public backing for cabinet seat

This content was published on Oct 1, 2006 The poll, published in three newspapers on Sunday, also revealed that Justice Minister Christoph Blocher and Interior Minister Pascal Couchepin are the least popular members of cabinet. More than half of those polled said that the centre-left Greens should be represented in the government if they improve their standing in parliament in 2007. Forty per…

Swiss Politics

Bern outlines aid programme for Lebanon

This content was published on Sep 29, 2006 It launched an aid programme on Friday called “Back to the villages” which is the focal point of Swiss relief operations in the country. The head of the Swiss Humanitarian Aid Unit, Toni Frisch, said the project would enable people in the south of the country to return to their villages, some of which had…

Swiss Politics

Leuenberger visit reinforces Romanian relations

This content was published on Sep 27, 2006 Swiss President Moritz Leuenberger said Brussels had not yet called on Switzerland to extend the Swiss-EU bilateral treaty on the free movement of people to the eastern states. Speaking in Bucharest during the first ever visit by a Swiss president to Romania, Leuenberger welcomed the eastern European state’s imminent EU membership. “The close cultural and…

Swiss Politics

Cohesion Fund “benefits both sides”

This content was published on Sep 26, 2006 The central issue is the SFr1 billion ($800 million) Switzerland has pledged to the ten new EU member states. The government said this is a “good investment” that will benefit not only the new EU states but also Switzerland. The vote, which will take place on November 26, was forced by the rightwing Swiss People’s…

Swiss Politics

“Switzerland has a xenophobic heritage”

This content was published on Sep 25, 2006 The honorary professor at Lausanne University also explains why he thinks Switzerland’s humanitarian tradition only applies if it serves the country’s interests. Around 68 per cent of voters endorsed tightened laws on asylum and immigration in Sunday’s vote, according to official results. All 26 cantons were also behind the measures, which were approved last year…

Swiss Politics

Papers see asylum vote as clear victory for Blocher

This content was published on Sep 25, 2006 Most editorialists said the result was largely driven by voter anger with perceived abuses of the asylum system, and described the outcome as a slap in the face for the left. Zurich’s Tages-Anzeiger called the vote Christoph Blocher’s “biggest win” since he became justice minister, but added that proposals to tighten asylum legislation had always…

Cluster: Swiss Abroad

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