Swiss Politics

Swiss urge UN to change terror list

This content was published on May 31, 2006 Ambassador Peter Maurer, who also addressed the assembly on behalf of Germany and Sweden, said the meaning of an association with these terrorist organisations had to be clearly defined. There are currently 142 individuals on the list who are linked to the former Afghan regime and 212 people and 122 businesses connected to Osama bin…

Swiss Politics

Palestinian unrest hits Swiss aid projects

This content was published on May 25, 2006 Mario Carera, head of the SDC’s Gaza and West Bank office, says a major problem is the shortage of medicine in Palestinian hospitals – something the Swiss are trying to address. On Tuesday Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh stressed that the occupied territories were not about to collapse into chaos. His comments follow clashes between…

Swiss Politics

Montenegro vote is boost for Balkan democracy

This content was published on May 22, 2006 Parliamentarian Andreas Gross, one of 3,000 foreign and local observers present in the former Yugoslav republic, said the legitimacy of the ballot couldn’t be questioned. Official results published on Tuesday showed that 55.5 per cent of Sunday’s votes were in favour of cutting ties with Serbia, according to a preliminary count. The European Union had…

Swiss Politics

Education vote heralds political sea change

This content was published on May 22, 2006 Editorialists say Sunday’s vote puts the onus on the cantons to make harmonisation work, but warn against expecting fast results. A decisive 86 per cent of the electorate voted on Sunday in favour of constitutional amendments to bring more cohesion to the school system and give the federal authorities a bigger say. But turnout was…

Swiss Politics

Overwhelming approval for education reform

This content was published on May 21, 2006 The constitutional amendment aims to harmonise the different school systems and give the federal authorities a bigger say. The polls indicate at least 23 of the 26 cantons voted in favour, paving the way for the reforms to be implemented. Changes to the constitution require a majority of the cantons as well as of the…

Swiss Politics

Lenin and the Swiss non-revolution

This content was published on May 19, 2006 Lenin, the father of the Russian revolution, worked on his theories for a popular uprising while living in Switzerland.

Swiss Politics

Cantons look at pros of EU membership

This content was published on May 16, 2006 The report says that entry into the EU would have advantages over the bilateral treaties that Bern has signed with Brussels. Membership would mean the cantons playing a direct role in regional bodies of the EU, whereas, at the moment, the Swiss government alone negotiates the bilateral way. The Europe working group of the Conference…

Swiss Politics

Testing times ahead for UN rights body

This content was published on May 10, 2006 Adrien-Claude Zoller, president of Geneva for Human Rights, says he hopes Switzerland maintains its strong commitment to the new body and ensures the voices of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are heard. Switzerland, elected alongside 46 other countries in New York on Tuesday, now faces the task of helping to thrash out how the council will operate.…

Swiss Politics

Switzerland elected to new UN human rights body

This content was published on May 10, 2006 The council, which stems from a Swiss initiative, is to replace the discredited Human Rights Commission and will meet for the first time at its seat in Geneva next month. Switzerland was chosen in the first ballot on Tuesday and won 140 out of 191 votes. Reacting to the news on Wednesday, Foreign Minister Micheline…

Swiss Politics

No constitutional safeguard for banking secrecy

This content was published on May 9, 2006 Most parliamentarians took the view that such protection for banking secrecy was no longer necessary since the signing of a relevant treaty with the European Union. The proposal, put forward by the rightwing Swiss People’s Party, gained a good deal of currency in parliament in December 2003 when Switzerland was under heavy EU pressure to…

Swiss Politics

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Swiss Politics

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Swiss urge UN to change terror list

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Palestinian unrest hits Swiss aid projects

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Montenegro vote is boost for Balkan democracy

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Education vote heralds political sea change

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Overwhelming approval for education reform

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Lenin and the Swiss non-revolution

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Cantons look at pros of EU membership

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Testing times ahead for UN rights body

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Switzerland elected to new UN human rights body

More

No constitutional safeguard for banking secrecy

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