Swiss Abroad

Switzerland joins protests against China

This content was published on Dec 26, 2009 Switzerland has joined a host of other countries in condemning the sentence which was handed down for Liu’s part in organising a petition demanding political freedoms. The Swiss foreign ministry said that it regretted that requests by diplomats to attend the hearing and the sentence were denied. Liu’s crime was to publish six articles on…

Swiss Politics

Swiss digest reputational damage

This content was published on Dec 26, 2009 Over the last 12 months Switzerland has been hit with a humiliating climbdown over tax evasion, banking giant UBS being dragged through the mud, an intensifying dispute with Libya and criticism over a vote to ban minarets. At one stage in the year, it seemed that Switzerland was besieged by hostile opinion from all over…

Swiss Politics

Libya blames Swiss for escalating row

This content was published on Dec 25, 2009 Among the most irksome items for the North African regime: photos leaked to the press of leader Moammar Gaddafi’s son, Hannibal, during his brief 2008 arrest in Geneva. Talk of military action to free two Swiss businessmen held in Libya for more than 500 days also made the list. As a senator in May 2009,…

Swiss Politics

Georgian-Russian border set to reopen

This content was published on Dec 24, 2009 Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Nino Kalandadze said the two sides agreed on Wednesday that the Verkhny Lars transit point would open in March. Russia said “in theory” the crossing should open. The crossing has been shut for the past three years and is the only major border transit between Russia and Georgia that does not…

Swiss Politics

Swiss see Obama as figure of hope for 2010

This content was published on Dec 24, 2009 The internet study on the bigger question of “hope” attracted 2,735 respondents from German-speaking Switzerland. Respondents were asked which three people they placed their hopes in next year, with Obama coming first, ahead of life partners and children. The Dalai Lama was fourth, followed by world tennis number one Roger Federer. Swiss politicians Didier Burkhalter…

Swiss Politics

Libya led to “exhausting” diplomatic year

This content was published on Dec 24, 2009 Speaking on the Swiss German television news programme Rundschau on Wednesday night she said the detention of two Swiss businessmen there was not a political drama as Libya was not a strategic partner for Switzerland. “But it is a human drama: we think about these men every day.” Overall the year had been “exhausting” on…

Swiss Politics

Swiss Post board member packs it in

This content was published on Dec 23, 2009 Hug, 65, has served as one of the ten members of the post office’s administrative board since 1998. He told Communications Minister Moritz Leuenberger of his resignation in a letter over the weekend. “This move is due to irreconcilable differences with the president of the board in relation to strategy and leadership,” Hug wrote. “Please…

Swiss Politics

Leaving UN terror blacklists gets easier

This content was published on Dec 18, 2009 With the creation of an ombudsman’s office, individuals or companies will have an independent review body to which they can submit their grievances and demand their removal from a blacklist. Since 1999, the council has imposed on member states obligations that include travel restrictions, financial sanctions and arms embargoes against people and entities associated with…

Swiss Politics

Swiss to accept one Guantánamo detainee

This content was published on Dec 16, 2009 The government, which at one point had looked at accepting three prisoners, said it would allow the Uzbek national to live in Switzerland for “humanitarian reasons”. Canton Geneva has said it is prepared to accept the man. The terms of acceptance are governed by a Memorandum of Understanding that was negotiated with the United States…

Swiss Politics

Cabinet turns down ban on arms at home

This content was published on Dec 16, 2009 It said on Wednesday that current legislation on weapons offered enough protection against abuse and that it was not going to put forward a counter-proposal to the initiative. Launched in February by the centre-left Social Democratic Party and a number of pacifist organisations, the initiative calls for army weapons to remain in barracks and for…

Swiss Abroad

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Swiss Abroad

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Switzerland joins protests against China

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Swiss digest reputational damage

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Libya blames Swiss for escalating row

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Georgian-Russian border set to reopen

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Swiss see Obama as figure of hope for 2010

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Libya led to “exhausting” diplomatic year

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Swiss Post board member packs it in

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Leaving UN terror blacklists gets easier

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Swiss to accept one Guantánamo detainee

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Cabinet turns down ban on arms at home

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