Swiss abroad clubs, we want to meet you!

In October, Switzerland will elect a new parliament. What do the Swiss abroad want? swissinfo.ch is taking their pulse. Keystone

To tap into the mood of the expatriate Swiss community, swissinfo.ch will visit six Swiss Abroad clubs during this general election year. For this we are looking for a club in the United States to hold a roundtable discussion with us in June.

Switzerland will elect a new parliament in October. The election campaign is gathering momentum and the first topics are being debated. But the concerns of the Swiss Abroad have as yet not been heard a great deal. How do Swiss citizens living abroad view the political debate in their home country? What is important to the expat Swiss community when they vote?

swissinfo.ch wants to know. We are visiting six Swiss Abroad clubs in Europe and further afield (France, German-speaking countries, Italy, Spain, Brazil and the United States) before the summer and are inviting them to roundtable discussions ahead of the Swiss elections.

We want to talk about fighter jets and health costs, about the European Union and climate policy. In other words, we are bringing Swiss topics to the Swiss around the world.

swissinfo.ch

Bringing Swiss abroad themes into focus

And vice versa: we will channel expat Swiss issues back to Switzerland. We will produce a video of the discussions, which will be posted on swissinfo.ch and distributed via social media. So we’ll also be asking how Switzerland treats its dual nationals, about bank accounts and e-voting, and about Swiss foreign policy.

Does this interest you? Then join us, either as a member of a club or as an interested guest, at a swissinfo.ch election roundtable. Tell us why we should visit your club for Swiss living abroad.

We will paint a portrait of each club during our visit. We would like to conduct the discussion with four to five people. It is always more interesting when different age groups and political views are represented.

Old and young, liberal and conservative: we want all views on the 2019 elections to be represented. Keystone

But we also want to talk locally to those Swiss Abroad citizens who are not involved in the discussion. We are taking the pulse of the expat community.

Are you with us? Get in touch at [e-mail]; we look forward to hearing from you!