Lawmakers from the Swiss People’s Party (UDC/SVP) have tabled a motion to tighten language requirements for naturalisation, reports RTS. They want applicants for a Swiss passport to demonstrate B2 oral and B1 written competence in one of the national languages — a higher bar than at present. Under current federal rules, candidates must be able […]
Swiss citizen convicted for fighting in Ukraine
For the first time, a Swiss citizen who fought in Ukraine as a volunteer has been convicted by a military court, reported RTS. The ruling comes as around 15 similar cases are under investigation and has revived debate over the boundaries between law, morality and personal freedom. Last Thursday a military court near Zurich found […]
Swiss to vote on accession to UN nuclear-ban treaty
Swiss voters will be asked to decide whether the country should accede to the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, according to the government. On 23 December 2025, The Alliance for a Nuclear Weapons Ban submitted 135,000 signatures to the Federal Chancellery, enough to trigger a nationwide vote. The initiative is backed by […]
The Swiss link to the Wham Christmas song
How the music video for 80’s hit song “Last Christmas” by the group Wham came to be filmed in Saas-Fee in Switzerland is a story of chance. According to Blick, roughly a year before the video was shot, Beat Anthamatten, director of the Grand Hotel Walliserhof in Saas-Fee, met one of the crew filming a […]
Religion continues to fade in Switzerland
Each generation, it seems, is a little less religious than the one before. New figures from the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO) suggest that although parents remain the main conduit of religious affiliation, the transmission is weakening over time. Christmas services still draw respectable crowds. For much of the rest of the year, however, pews […]
Trump announces drug price deal with Novartis and Roche subsidiary
Donald Trump has announced a deal with several large pharmaceutical firms, including Switzerland’s Novartis and Genentech, a subsidiary of Roche, reported SRF. The agreement, unveiled at the White House, is intended to lower the prices of selected medicines in the United States and to allow drugmakers to sell them directly to consumers online. In exchange, […]
Swiss parliament finally accepts 2026 budget cuts to balance books
Switzerland’s federal parliament has approved a balanced budget for 2026 after weeks of negotiation, settling the last points of contention on Friday, reported Le Temps. The compromise leaves the public finances in the black, with a slim margin of manoeuvre of CHF 84.6m, and reflects a clear political priority: security. Both chambers of the Federal […]
Criminal network in France responsible for dozens of thefts in Switzerland dismantled
A cross-border criminal network responsible for dozens of thefts in Switzerland has been dismantled in neighbouring France, reported RTS. The investigation, led jointly by Swiss and French authorities with support from Europol, Eurojust and Fedpol, targeted an organised group involved in stealing luxury vehicles and burglarising gun shops across several Swiss cantons. The main criminal […]
Switzerland could feed its entire population without food imports
Swiss agriculture could, in theory, feed the entire population without imports. That is the counter-intuitive conclusion of a new study by the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL), the ETH Zurich and the consultancy O+L GmbH. The research, published in Swiss Agricultural Research, models a scenario in which domestic production alone would suffice. In terms […]
Trump sets deadline to conclude binding trade agreement with Switzerland
Donald Trump has set Switzerland a deadline to conclude a binding trade agreement, reported RTS. Washington wants a legally enforceable deal in place by March 31st 2026. Failing that, the United States says it may review and reconsider the tariffs imposed on Swiss exports. According to several Swiss newspapers, the Trump administration is keen to […]
