Swiss Abroad

Right attacks government over EU policy

This content was published on Apr 2, 2005 The party president reiterated that the Schengen/Dublin accords on closer security and asylum cooperation would attract criminal foreigners to Switzerland. Delegates meeting in the resort of Interlaken on Saturday approved a resolution demanding that the government formally drop a 1992 request for negotiations with Brussels on Swiss membership of the EU. They said the withdrawal…

Swiss Politics

Calmy-Rey points to growing trade with Turkey

This content was published on Mar 31, 2005 Addressing business leaders in Istanbul on Thursday, she said trade between the two countries could only benefit from Turkey’s closer ties with the European Union. But she warned that Turkish membership of the EU could hamper bilateral relations with Switzerland. Swiss exports to Turkey increased by 17 per cent last year to SFr1.9 billion ($1.60…

Swiss Politics

People to decide on EU accords

This content was published on Mar 31, 2005 Opponents of the accords – led by the rightwing People’s Party – have presented the government with a petition bearing 86,000 signatures, well over the 50,000 needed to force a referendum. Supporters of Schengen/Dublin reacted immediately, with 150 parliamentarians forming a cross-party committee on Thursday to rally popular support for the EU treaties. The announcement…

Swiss Politics

Swiss back Wolfowitz as World Bank chief

This content was published on Mar 30, 2005 After a meeting in Brussels on Wednesday with other European ministers and Wolfowitz, Deiss said he had “a very good feeling” about the nomination. Wolfowitz – the US deputy secretary of defence known as the architect of the Iraq war – was in the Belgian capital on the eve of a World Bank meeting that…

Swiss Politics

Armenia features high in Swiss-Turkish talks

This content was published on Mar 29, 2005 During a visit to Ankara, Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey and her Turkish counterpart, Abdullah Gül, said more research was needed into the issue. “I talked to Mrs Calmy-Rey at length about our point of view on the Armenian question and the historical evolution of this problem,” Gül told a news conference after the discussions.…

Swiss Politics

Far right forces referendum on EU accord

This content was published on Mar 29, 2005 Some 80,000 signatures were handed over to the federal authorities in Bern at a ceremony on Tuesday. The Swiss look set to vote on the issue in a referendum on September 25. Voters will be asked to extend an accord on the free movement of people between EU countries and Switzerland to the new member…

Swiss Politics

Political parties lose grass-roots support

This content was published on Mar 29, 2005 The study by Zurich University also showed that the parties are finding it increasingly difficult to recruit candidates for political positions. The survey found that the membership base of Switzerland’s four main political parties had decreased by 20 per cent since 1990. The centre-right Christian Democrats and the Radicals fared the worst, losing 25 per…

Swiss Politics

Calmy-Rey faces delicate mission in Turkey

This content was published on Mar 28, 2005 Ankara withdrew its invitation at the last minute after a cantonal parliament voted to recognise the 1915 slaughter of hundreds of thousands of Armenians as genocide. Three months later – in December 2003 – a similar vote in the House of Representatives reached the same conclusion, drawing fresh condemnation from Turkey. Armenians say around 1.8…

Swiss Politics

“An artist has to pay the price”

This content was published on Mar 26, 2005 swissinfo met Hirschhorn before his first public appearance in Switzerland since the wrangle over his provocative Paris exhibition broke out late last year. Entitled Swiss-Swiss Democracy, the show took aim at the Switzerland’s system of direct democracy, including an attack on the justice minister and rightwing People’s Party figurehead, Christoph Blocher. One of the more…

Swiss Politics

Expo 2005 is officially inaugurated

This content was published on Mar 24, 2005 Switzerland has spent SFr15 million ($12.7 million) on its participation at the global event, which opened to the public on Friday. More than 15 million people are expected to visit the 173-hectare Expo site just outside the city of Nagoya. Security was tight at the opening ceremony and will remain so throughout the six-month run…

Swiss Abroad

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