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Swiss Politics

The week in Switzerland

This content was published on Mar 10, 2000 A controversial visit by the Austrian foreign minister and a key move towards Swiss membership of the United Nations were two of the stories that made the headlines in Switzerland this week. The visit to Berne by Austria’s foreign minister, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, was intended to stress the good neighbourly relations that Switzerland and Austria traditionally…

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New body to represent Switzerland abroad gains parliamentary approval

This content was published on Mar 9, 2000 Parliament has backed a new project aimed at promoting Switzerland’s image abroad. An agency, called Presence Switzerland, will cooperate with embassies, consulates, business and cultural institutions. The Senate overwhelmingly approved the new promotion agency, which will have its annual budget topped up from SFr2.4 million to about SFr15 million within the next three years. Presence…

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Proposals to cut asylum spending

This content was published on Mar 9, 2000 A government-appointed committee has proposed measures to cut spending on asylum seekers and to make the process more efficient. The measures include penalising those who conceal their identities. The committee’s recommendations are two-pronged. It suggests rewarding asylum seekers who cooperate with the authorities and providing incentives for cantons to streamline the asylum process. Jean-Daniel Gerber,…

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Switzerland and Austria stress friendly relations despite protests

This content was published on Mar 8, 2000 The Austrian foreign minister, Benita Ferrero-Waldner (pictured), has completed her first official visit to Switzerland. Her presence was greeted with protests outside the Swiss parliament, despite the traditional good relations between the two countries. Demonstrators protesting in Berne at Ferrero-Waldner’s visit said they wanted to show that there was a ground swell of feeling against…

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Switzerland puts brakes on EU doctors

This content was published on Mar 8, 2000 The Swiss House of Representatives has put the brakes on a further opening up of Switzerland to medical practitioners from the European Union. To combat a surfeit of doctors, the House adopted a temporary licensing system in which local authorities would have to prove that only an EU doctor could be found to fill a…

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Swiss Politics

Switzerland and Austria stress friendly relations despite protests

This content was published on Mar 8, 2000 Protests have marked a visit to Switzerland by Austria’s foreign minister, Benita Ferrero-Waldner. Demostrations were held in the capital, Berne, and security was stepped up at Austrian diplomatic missions. Ferrero-Waldner met Switzerland’s foreign minister, Joseph Deiss, (picutre) at a government villa outside Berne for official talks on bilateral relations and discussions on the new Austrian…

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Swiss naturalisation practices in the spotlight

This content was published on Mar 8, 2000 The manner in which Swiss nationality is granted to foreigners has come under attack, in the wake of a controversial practice introduced in the industrial town of Emmenbrücke. Swiss residents of the town will vote on individual applicants, after consulting details of their lifestyle and background in a special brochure (see picture). Switzerland has the…

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Sunday’s vote: boosting the number of women in public office

This content was published on Mar 7, 2000 Switzerland, like most countries, has far fewer women than men in public office. On Sunday, the Swiss will be voting on proposals to boost their numbers by introducing quotas for women in government, parliament and the federal administration. If accepted, the proposals would make Switzerland the first country in Europe where the proportion of women…

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Cantons call for rethink on lynx

This content was published on Mar 7, 2000 A group of 16 cantons is calling on the environment minister, Moritz Leuenberger, to amend the government’s policy on the reintroduction of the lynx into the wild. They welcome the move to extend the big cat’s territory to eastern parts of Switzerland, but also want to have more say in how to control the local…

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Swiss people to have final say on joining United Nations

This content was published on Mar 6, 2000 The Swiss people are to vote on joining the United Nations. Supporters of a people’s initiative have collected well over the necessary 100,000 signatures to force a nationwide vote. UN membership was rejected in a previous vote in 1986. The head of the initiative committee, Remo Gysin, said the aim of the vote was to…

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