Swiss Abroad

Calls grow for foreigners’ right to buy homes

This content was published on Mar 28, 2012 Proposals are being mooted by politicians from several parties as experts squabble over the terms and the implementation of an environmental initiative. The narrow majority on March 11 for a proposal to impose a 20 per cent cap on second homes sent shock waves through mountain regions and the tourist sector. It is prompting renewed…

Swiss Politics

Blocher’s parliamentary immunity under scrutiny

This content was published on Mar 27, 2012 The request to allow a criminal investigation into Christoph Blocher was handed in on Tuesday, ahead of a first meeting of a special parliamentary panel. However, no immediate decision on Blocher’s immunity is expected. The former justice minister is being investigated in a case of alleged breach of banking secrecy, together with three other people.…

Swiss Politics

Foreign minister calls for nuclear security

This content was published on Mar 27, 2012 Speaking on Tuesday, Burkhalter said that if the risk of nuclear terrorism was to be avoided, it was necessary “to do everything possible to reduce the sources of such an act”. He added that nuclear disarmament should be considered one solution to the problem, even if it was not on the summit agenda. The foreign…

Swiss Politics

Call for tougher penalties to combat crime rise

This content was published on Mar 26, 2012 According to the Federal Statistics Office, cases of theft increased nationally by 16 per cent. However, despite the overall rise in crime in 2011, the number of minors charged with criminal offences was down by 21 per cent, while violent crime dropped by seven per cent and sex crimes were down by three per cent.…

Swiss Politics

Israel cuts contact with UN rights body

This content was published on Mar 26, 2012 It added Israel would also bar a UN team from entering Israel or the West Bank for a planned investigation of Jewish settlements. Israel accuses the council of having a pronounced anti-Israel bias because of what it says is its disproportionate focus on Israeli policy toward the Palestinians. Israeli leaders have been in an uproar…

Swiss Politics

Swiss-Korean ties marked ahead of summit

This content was published on Mar 25, 2012 Around 50 heads of state and high-ranking officials are attending the summit on Monday and Tuesday, including United States President Barack Obama and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. They will debate measures to stop terrorists obtaining nuclear weapons. Also on the agenda will be talks on how to avoid a recurrence of the Fukushima nuclear…

Swiss Politics

Seco head says EU talks are two-way street

This content was published on Mar 25, 2012 In an interview with the SonntagsZeitung newspaper, Marie-Gabrielle Ineichen-Fleisch described the European Commission’s recent frustration with future trade talks with Switzerland as an “EU tactic” that aimed to portray Bern as wanting to take advantage of the European market without giving anything back. Swiss ministers were in Brussels this week and offered to put forward…

Swiss Politics

Survey finds Leuthard is favourite politician

This content was published on Mar 25, 2012 The Isopublic survey put Leuthard, a Christian Democrat, just ahead of Justice Minister Simonetta Sommaruga and Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter. Cabinet newcomer from last year, Interior Minister Alain Berset was fourth, followed by Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf, who holds the finance ministry portfolio. The Social Democrat Party president, Christian Levrat, was the best liked politician outside the…

Swiss Politics

Tax disputes spill over to expat community

This content was published on Mar 24, 2012 At its biannual meeting in Bern on Saturday, the assembly unanimously adopted a resolution calling for proposals allowing expatriates to keep their taxed assets in Swiss banks. The move is in response to growing complaints, notably by Swiss expats in the US who were forced to close their accounts at short notice amid pressure by…

Swiss Politics

EU ambassador pushes hard line

This content was published on Mar 23, 2012 His first press briefing with Swiss media in Bern on Friday revealed a career diplomat adept at smoothing ruffled feathers while refusing to give an inch. Perhaps it was calculated to, given the briefing came in the same week that Swiss President Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf and Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter returned from high-level meetings in Brussels…

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Calls grow for foreigners’ right to buy homes

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Blocher’s parliamentary immunity under scrutiny

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Foreign minister calls for nuclear security

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Call for tougher penalties to combat crime rise

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Israel cuts contact with UN rights body

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Swiss-Korean ties marked ahead of summit

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Seco head says EU talks are two-way street

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Survey finds Leuthard is favourite politician

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Tax disputes spill over to expat community

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EU ambassador pushes hard line

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