Requiring foreign residents to undertake military service is one option explored in a government sponsored report published last week. The current system requires all able young male Swiss citizens to do military service. In 1985 there were around 45,000 eligible men. By 2014 this number had dropped to about 37,000. Estimates for 2035 are between 36,000 […]
Swiss hand out first fine for wearing a burqa
On 1 July 2016, a law in the Swiss canton of Ticino, which bans anyone from hiding their face in public, came into effect. According to 20 Minutes, the first person to be punished under the new law was Nora Illi, a representative of the Islamic Central Council of Switzerland (ICCS). Last Friday, when the new […]
Brexit will affect Switzerland, says Swiss president
Swiss president Johann Schneider-Ammann said “This decision affects your country directly and indirectly.” Firstly, relations between Switzerland and the UK will need to be redrawn. This will not happen today, but once the UK formally leaves, in around two years time. The current rules for people and companies will stay in place until further notice. Switzerland […]
Britain votes to leave EU. What does it mean?
All of the votes have been counted. 51.9% of the votes were for “leave”. Donald Tusk, President of the European Council, said in an announcement, that EU law will continue to apply to the UK until the nation formally leaves the club, including rules on free movement of people. David Cameron said in a speech […]
Switzerland’s patchwork of EU deals and their history – at a glance
First trade Back in 1972 Switzerland agreed a free trade deal with the EU. The deal, which came into force the following year, removed duties and quotas from industrial products. In 1973 the EU was a far smaller club than today, Britain, Ireland and Denmark had just joined bringing the number of members to nine. Today there are […]
Switzerland withdraws its application for EU membership
Back in the days when mobile phones looked like the one pictured below, the Swiss voted on whether to join the EEA (European Economic Area), a precursor to EU membership. On 6 December 1992, 78.9% of Swiss voters turned out to vote, the highest turnout seen in Switzerland over the last 45 years. The traditional voting divide between French […]
Swiss town pays instead of taking refugees
Le Matin reported that the commune of Oberwil-Lieli, in the Canton of Aargau in Switzerland, has decided to spend CHF 290,000 to avoid taking refugees. The CHF 290,000 sum, included in the municipality’s revised 2016 budget, was accepted by a majority of the commune’s assembly last Friday. At the same time commune leaders have been […]
Swiss citizenship refused for wearing the wrong clothes
20 Minutes. It seems Scottish comedian Billy Connolly’s saying: “There’s no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothing…” can be applied to applications for Swiss citizenship. The newspaper Basellandschaftliche Zeitung, recently reported that a Kosovar family had been refused citizenship in the Swiss town of Bubendorf in the canton of Basel Landschaft. One […]
Most Swiss put EU agreements before immigration quotas according to survey
24 Heures. According to a survey conducted by GfS Bern, only 36% of Swiss would support the UDC/SVP’s 2014 initiative against mass immigration if forced to choose between it and maintaining bilateral agreements with the EU, which include an open door policy towards EU nationals. Of the remaining 64%, 47% are against the initiative and 17% […]
Muslim pupils in Basel must shake teachers’ hands
Tribune de Genève. Teachers in the Swiss canton of Basel-Landschaft will soon have the right to demand school children shake their hands. Under new rules, the parents of children who don’t comply could face fines as high as CHF 5,000. In addition, the dispensation, granted to two muslim pupils at Therwil secondary school earlier in the […]
