Swiss Abroad

Plan to boost GP numbers to be put to a vote

This content was published on Apr 1, 2010 Campaigners said they collected more than 200,000 signatures in five months – twice as much as necessary – to force the vote. More than 3,000 new GPs are needed by 2016 to ensure basic healthcare services for the country, according to the promoters of the initiative. No date for the vote has been set. There…

Swiss Politics

Development aid increases, but methods criticised

This content was published on Mar 31, 2010 In a statement on Wednesday, the foreign ministry said this represented an increase of 11.9 per cent compared to 2008. This was mainly due to debt-relief measures for Togo and Congo-Brazzaville, as well as a large rise in costs of dealing with asylum seekers. According to the guidelines published by the Organization for Economic Cooperation…

Swiss Politics

Kofi Annan-led forum closes due to lack of funds

This content was published on Mar 31, 2010 In a statement on Wednesday, the foreign ministry said it had set aside SFr1.75 million ($1.66 million) to cover the debts of the Geneva-based Global Humanitarian Forum (GHF). Switzerland has also agreed to pay the outstanding salaries and social security benefits of the GHF staff. “It is a great disappointment to all of us that…

Swiss Politics

Calls for joint efforts to fight poverty

This content was published on Mar 31, 2010 Interior Minister Didier Burkhalter said an increased effort was needed to re-integrate people into the job market. He said the poor deserved the respect and did not need the pity of others, in reference to the Russian author Maxim Gorki. In its report, the cabinet focuses on equal opportunities in education, improved re-integration into the…

Swiss Politics

Pakistan asks Swiss to revive Zardari probe

This content was published on Mar 31, 2010 The move follows a Pakistani Supreme Court threat on Tuesday to imprison the head of the country’s top anti-corruption agency unless the body moved to reopen cases against Zardari and a slew of other politicians, bureaucrats and party workers. Geneva’s public prosecutor, Daniel Zappelli, on Wednesday said he had received no request from Pakistani officials.…

Swiss Politics

EU to continue major role in Libya crisis

This content was published on Mar 30, 2010 EU officials say they are committed to securing the release of Max Göldi, an executive of engineering giant ABB, who was arrested in Tripoli in July 2008. Cecilia Malmström, the European Commissioner for Home Affairs, said “lots of people were involved” in working on the issue. Guido Westerwelle, the German foreign minister, told a Swiss…

Swiss Politics

Attacks “prove Russian policy has failed”

This content was published on Mar 29, 2010 Thérèse Obrecht, president of the Swiss section of Reporters without Borders, tells swissinfo.ch that Chechnya is a Russian puppet state whose citizens live in constant fear of torture and assassination. On Monday morning, female suicide bombers blew themselves up in twin attacks on Moscow underground stations packed with rush-hour passengers, killing at least 38 people…

Swiss Politics

The Swiss vote more than any other country

This content was published on Mar 29, 2010 In most democracies, citizens only turn out to vote for elections – presidential, parliamentary or local. It is the representatives they choose on these occasions who take political decisions on their behalf. That’s indirect democracy. In an indirect democracy it is unusual for citizens to be asked to vote on specific issues. One exception in…

Swiss Politics

Swiss Abroad want democratic change

This content was published on Mar 29, 2010 At a meeting in Bern on Saturday, the Swiss Abroad Council discussed a proposal which, among other things, would require council delegates to be elected directly by expatriate voters. “Such a law would allow the government to define its policy towards the Swiss abroad clearly and encourage expatriates to participate more in public life,” the…

Swiss Politics

Swiss snubbed as Libya and EU patch up dispute

This content was published on Mar 28, 2010 Libya hailed the agreement with the European Union as a victory over Switzerland, which no longer has any means of exerting pressure on Tripoli to release a Swiss businessman jailed there. The Swiss foreign ministry dismissed allegations its visa blacklist had violated the rules of the borderless travel zone grouping 22 EU countries, Switzerland, Norway…

Swiss Abroad

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