Swiss Politics

Fast track to Swiss passport and full coffers

This content was published on Feb 17, 2005 But the authorities are pushing for legal amendments to end the controversial policy. The village of Castaneda, located high above the Calanca valley at 786m, is a record holder of a kind. The village in the Italian-speaking region has only 240 local residents, but granted 620 foreigners citizenship in 2004. Castaneda’s naturalisation policy, which paves…

Swiss Politics

Sport offers hope to Ethiopian street kids

This content was published on Feb 16, 2005 Sport The Bridge has the backing of Adolf Ogi, a former Swiss cabinet minister and organiser of the United Nations-sponsored 2005 Year of Sport. The charity was set up in 2002 and has undertaken several projects in Swiss schools using sport and physical activity to help integrate foreign children living in Switzerland. Sport The Bridge’s…

Swiss Politics

EU Council president praises Swiss democracy

This content was published on Feb 15, 2005 Juncker, who is also the prime minister of Luxembourg, told swissinfo the two countries had much in common, and he had never found it difficult to defend Switzerland. The Luxembourg prime minister enjoys wide respect within Europe, being considered one of the EU’s most influential and credible politicians. Luxembourg took over the six-month rotating presidency…

Swiss Politics

Swiss host US-Russia nuclear talks

This content was published on Feb 12, 2005 The talks focused on the dismantling of the last three military nuclear reactors on Russian soil. Swiss foreign ministry spokesman, Ivo Sieber, told swissinfo that Switzerland had only played host to the meeting and that no national experts had participated. The talks were held at the national defence establishment, the Spiez Laboratory, and had been…

Swiss Politics

Yushchenko heads to Swiss clinic

This content was published on Feb 12, 2005 Yushchenko claims he was deliberately given dioxin to force him out of last November’s presidential elections. The president’s office said that Yushchenko flew to Switzerland for an appointment at a dermatology clinic on Friday, but did not say to which establishment. It added that the president was being accompanied by chief prosecutor Svyatoslav Piskun to…

Swiss Politics

Parliamentarians call for reform of UN

This content was published on Feb 9, 2005 They say the creation of a “world parliament” would reinforce the organisation’s credibility and help to speed up reform of the UN. “The advantages of a parliamentary assembly within the UN would be numerous,” wrote Swiss parliamentarians in an open letter addressed to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Speaking at a press conference in Bern on…

Swiss Politics

Calmy-Rey begins visit to Israel

This content was published on Feb 7, 2005 Calmy-Rey started her first trip to Israel by visiting the Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem. She later met Israeli ministers. The Swiss foreign minister left a wreath of flowers at the Yad Vashem memorial on behalf of Switzerland and also inscribed her name in the guest book, during the trip on Sunday. “I have come to…

Swiss Politics

Palestinian prisoners get a new start in life

This content was published on Feb 7, 2005 The Abu Djihad training centre, which was visited last week by the Swiss foreign minister, helps to integrate former inmates back into civilian life. On Thursday the Israeli cabinet agreed to release around 900 prisoners as a gesture of goodwill ahead of Tuesday’s Middle East peace summit in Egypt. The announcement coincided with the arrival…

Swiss Politics

Couchepin calls for a liberal culture policy

This content was published on Feb 5, 2005 His remarks, made during a meeting in Zurich on Saturday, come shortly before parliament is due to debate a law on the promotion of culture. At the meeting, organised by Couchepin’s centre-right Radical Party but also attended by the centre-left Social Democrats and figures from the arts world, the minister said that political influence on…

Swiss Politics

Christian Democrats support closer EU ties

This content was published on Feb 5, 2005 The party also gave its support to the extension of the Swiss labour market to the ten new EU member states at a meeting in Auvernier near Neuchâtel on Saturday. The Christian Democrats, one of Switzerland’s four main political parties, voted by 176 to zero in favour of the Schengen/Dublin accord on cross-border crime and…

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Fast track to Swiss passport and full coffers

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Sport offers hope to Ethiopian street kids

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EU Council president praises Swiss democracy

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Swiss host US-Russia nuclear talks

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Yushchenko heads to Swiss clinic

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Parliamentarians call for reform of UN

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Calmy-Rey begins visit to Israel

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Palestinian prisoners get a new start in life

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Couchepin calls for a liberal culture policy

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Christian Democrats support closer EU ties

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