Swiss Abroad

Swiss Abroad seek greater role in politics

This content was published on Mar 27, 2010 “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,” said a statement by the Organisation of the Swiss Abroad (OSA). The council which represents nearly 700,000 Swiss living across the world, met in Bern on Saturday. More than 130,000…

Swiss Politics

Bern and Berlin hammer out new tax accord

This content was published on Mar 26, 2010 Swiss finance minister Hans-Rudolf Merz and his German counterpart, Wolfgang Schäuble, initialled an accord in Berlin on Friday that is set to help Germany in its campaign against tax cheaters. The deal will clarify tax disclosure rules for Switzerland’s multi-trillion-dollar wealth management industry. The Swiss finance ministry said details of the agreement would not be…

Swiss Politics

More cards left to play in Libya dispute?

This content was published on Mar 25, 2010 Commentators and opinion makers on Thursday bemoaned Switzerland’s decision to tear up a blacklist barring top Libyans from entering most of Europe, but for one former diplomat “the last card is never the last card.” “As long as you don’t know the details of the negotiations you can’t say that [Switzerland has no other options],”…

Swiss Politics

Government wants a two-year presidency

This content was published on Mar 25, 2010 It also came out in favour of increasing the number of state secretaries, according to a statement by the Federal Chancellery on Thursday. Extending the presidency, which rotates among cabinet members according to a principle of seniority, would help boost the leading role of the office and represent the country better abroad, the statement said.…

Swiss Politics

UN council targets Swiss anti-minaret vote

This content was published on Mar 25, 2010 The Geneva-based Human Rights Council on Thursday approved a resolution, sponsored by Pakistan, to denounce the vote as Islamophobic. Twenty countries voted in favour of the resolution, 17 against, while eight abstained. Nearly 58 per cent of Swiss voters approved an initiative in November banning the construction of minarets. Earlier this year Switzerland was criticised…

Swiss Politics

EU faces tough test on Greek rescue

This content was published on Mar 25, 2010 It’s an unprecedented situation, Nicolas Levrat, director of the European Institute at Geneva University, told swissinfo.ch in an interview. After the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon, Europe faces the challenge of redefining its economic landscape. Greece’s financial difficulties have put Europe to the test, and the topic is set to eclipse other…

Swiss Politics

Public puzzled over concession to Libya

This content was published on Mar 25, 2010 The move is the latest in an ongoing dispute with the regime of Moammar Gaddafi over a Swiss businessman imprisoned in Tripoli and the temporary arrest of a son of the Libyan leader in Geneva in 2008. Christa Markwalder, speaker of the foreign affairs committee of the House of Representatives, said she could not make…

Swiss Politics

Rape is still used as a weapon of war in Congo

This content was published on Mar 24, 2010 Swiss senator Dick Marty and mime artist Dimitri recently returned from a visit to eastern DRC organized by the Geneva-based World Organisation against Torture (OMCT). “We were all very shocked by what we saw and heard,” Dimitri told Infosud/swissinfo.ch by telephone. “Devastated young women. One of them – the only survivor of a gang rape…

Swiss Politics

Swiss ready to drop Libya travel ban

This content was published on Mar 24, 2010 Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey called the offer a gesture of “goodwill” and said the country’s ultimate goal was the release of Max Göldi, a businessman serving a prison sentence in Libya. “The government is prepared, within the framework of the European Union mediation, to lift the ban on certain categories of Libyan citizens,” the government…

Swiss Politics

More holidays no priority for cabinet

This content was published on Mar 24, 2010 “The cabinet does not deny an increase in labour productivity. But vacations are not the most important way to benefit employees,“ the justice ministry said. Under current law, holiday entitlements vary from sector to sector and can differ from one canton to another. Last year the Travail Suisse trade union umbrella organisation handed in the…

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