Swiss Abroad

Swiss perform poorly in integration survey

This content was published on Apr 5, 2011 The Migration Integration Policy Index (Mipex) gives Switzerland 43 points out of 100, placing it 23rd out of 31 countries The survey was carried out in 2010; Switzerland shows no improvement in its score and has dropped three places since the previous index in 2007. Neighbouring countries France, Italy and Germany have a better record…

Swiss Politics

“There are four bodies outside our house”

This content was published on Apr 5, 2011 Tension is rising as the forces of the elected president, Alassane Ouattara, are poised to force his rival, Laurent Gbagbo, to step down. Reports say United Nations and French forces are preparing to attack the presidential palace on Tuesday after launching full assaults on the residence of the entrenched leader, the republican guard, two major…

Swiss Politics

Parties asked to live up to pledges for expats

This content was published on Apr 5, 2011 The Organisation of the Swiss Abroad (OSA) points out that parties like to assert their support for expatriate issues in the run-up to elections, but too often there is a perceived gap between good intentions and concrete action. A sure sign of forthcoming elections for the federal parliament, which take place every four years in…

Swiss Politics

Google loses latest round in Street View battle

This content was published on Apr 4, 2011 A ruling published on Monday by the Swiss Federal Administrative Court affects any new ground-level pictures that the popular internet search engine publishes. A court statement said the ruling upholds principles of privacy of control of personal data “regardless of the actual sensitivity of the information in question”. Lawyers for Google had told the court…

Swiss Politics

Senator Dick Marty aims to solve Jura conflict

This content was published on Apr 4, 2011 A member of the Swiss Senate, he is now president of the Inter-Jura Assembly, a body created in 1994 to help promote rapprochement between cantons Bern and Jura in the western part of the country. At the heart of the strife are underlying linguistic and religious differences, as well as economic and political problems. Marty…

Swiss Politics

Traditional parties lose in Zurich elections

This content was published on Apr 4, 2011 The centre-right Liberal Greens nearly doubled the number of seats in parliament to 19, while their centre-left rivals, the Greens, consolidated their 19 seats and gained a seat in the cantonal government. The small centre-right Conservative Democratic Party, standing for the first time, won six seats. The main losers were the traditional centre-right Radicals and…

Swiss Politics

Politicians reluctant to campaign online

This content was published on Apr 3, 2011 A specialist in political public relations, Mark Balsiger, tells swissinfo.ch that this is a mistake. Balsiger has recently published a book in German on the right approach to election campaigning (Wahlkampf – aber richtig) in which he presents five success stories and offers advice to candidates, including how to take advantage of the internet and…

Swiss Politics

Tamils protest at asylum policy shift

This content was published on Apr 2, 2011 Protestors called for a rethink of a decision in force since March 1, saying the human rights situation in Sri Lanka remained precarious. At the start of the year, the Federal Migration Office said the situation in the country had improved and decided that most asylum seekers could return to the north and east of…

Swiss Politics

Peoples’ will sets the agenda

This content was published on Apr 1, 2011 Considered a cornerstone of Swiss democracy, the initiative system allows any citizen to call for a vote on any issue providing they collect at least 100,000 signatures in support of it. Originally intended as a means for citizens to propose changes to the constitution, people’s initiatives are perhaps now the most effective instrument stakeholders have…

Swiss Politics

Red Cross holds talks in Tripoli

This content was published on Apr 1, 2011 The team arrived on Wednesday at the invitation of the Libyan authorities, the ICRC said on its website on Friday. The officials met the prime minister, the secretary of health and environment and the chief of staff of Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi. More high-level meetings are planned. The head of the team, Jean-Michel Monod, described…

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