Swiss Abroad

Swiss push OSCE ‘contact group’ to defuse crisis

This content was published on Mar 3, 2014 Addressing the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva on Monday, Burkhalter said the contact group would support Ukraine during its transition and coordinate aid; it could also discuss sending observers to monitor the rights of national minorities. “Recent events unfolding before our eyes in Ukraine have shown us that peace, security and human rights…

Swiss Politics

Swiss in the EU? What has the vote meant for you?

This content was published on Mar 3, 2014 More generally, what sorts of comments do you hear about the Swiss vote? Do you think this decision permanently changed the image of Switzerland abroad?

Swiss Politics

Putin’s power unchecked in Ukraine

This content was published on Mar 3, 2014 An analysis in the Tages-Anzeiger newspaper begins with a nod to Putin’s “victory” with the recent Winter Olympics in Sochi, and compares it with his “victory” in Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula: “There was no speech to the nation, no declaration of war to the world. The head of the Kremlin doesn’t need any of that because…

Swiss Politics

Victims slam Church’s response to sex abuse

This content was published on Mar 3, 2014 “Where are all the Swiss priests who have been accused?” demands Gérard Falcioni, a ski guide and herdsman from the village of Bramois in canton Valais. Falcioni was himself a victim of abuse by a local priest from the age of five. Since 2002 he has been one of the few people in Switzerland to…

Swiss Politics

Crowd shows solidarity ‘for an open Switzerland’

This content was published on Mar 1, 2014 Almost 60 parties and organisations, including the Greens, the Social Democrats, unions and foreigner associations, had called for people to attend. They warned that following the recent vote to limit immigration, the rights of the more than 1.8 million foreigners in Switzerland could seriously deteriorate. “At the same time, [foreigners] have significantly contributed to our shared prosperity, quality…

Swiss Politics

‘Bilateralism is in our DNA’ – interior minister

This content was published on Mar 1, 2014 In an interview on Saturday with La Liberté, a Fribourg newspaper, Berset admitted that while one should neither under- nor overestimate the effects of the vote, “it’s the first time that the Swiss have chosen not to create or enlarge bilateral agreements”. This, he continued, could put in doubt Switzerland’s EU policy of the past…

Swiss Politics

Weapons exports take a nosedive

This content was published on Feb 28, 2014 Last year, CHF461.2 million ($520 million) in Swiss weapons materiel was sent to other countries, compared to about CHF700 million in 2012 according to the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO). In the autumn of 2013, the Senate recommended implementing less stringent laws which would allow the weapons industry to export to countries with records…

Swiss Politics

Swiss investigate Yanukovych for money laundering

This content was published on Feb 28, 2014 The foreign ministry said all assets and bank accounts held by Yanukovych and 19 other people of his entourage in Switzerland were blocked. The government wished to take “all measures necessary to avoid the risk of any misappropriation of financial assets of the Ukrainian state,” a statement said. The aim was “to prevent these assets…

Swiss Politics

Fight over benefits and living on little money

This content was published on Feb 28, 2014 Life has not been kind to Maria C.* (real name withheld). Growing up in a farmer’s village outside Zurich, she is a child of an immigrant mother who barely spoke the local language. When her Swiss father died, the three-year old was sent away to a home until she was 11 and considered unfit for…

Swiss Politics

European Union wants Swiss in asylum group

This content was published on Feb 28, 2014 The European Parliament stated on February 11 – two days after the vote to curb immigration – that Switzerland’s vote violated existing agreements on the free movement of people. According to new information obtained by Swiss public radio SRF, on that same day, EU officials also gave the green light for the Swiss to continue…

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