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Swiss Politics

Cabinet weighs alternatives to EU membership

This content was published on Apr 7, 2005 Michael Ambühl says the government will weigh up the advantages and disadvantages of this and other options in a report to be compiled over the next two years. In an interview with the SonntagsZeitung, Ambühl said the government wanted to establish a new basis for dealings with the EU following a vote in September on…

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Swiss to improve response to foreign crises

This content was published on Apr 4, 2005 Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey said on Monday that the Asian tsunami and the conflict in Ivory Coast had shown that Swiss reaction to such events needed to be improved. Calmy-Rey said that investigations into the management of these two crises had brought to light a series of “technical problems”. The tidal waves, which swept across…

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Swiss Politics

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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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.…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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