Switzerland Today

Hello from Bern,

Where church bells rang out at 9am today to mark a year since the Russia-Ukraine war began. Petitions and protests for peace were also lined up this afternoon in the city. This evening, carnival celebrations will continue unabated. It’s a strange world!

Keystone / Justin Lane

In the news: UN resolution, military justice, and patient safety.

• Switzerland has voiced support for a UN resolution calling for a peaceful end to the war in Ukraine, a year after Russia’s invasion of its neighbour. The resolution was passed with 141 votes in favour, seven against and 32 abstentions. “With today’s resolution, we are sending out a strong message of peace and respect for the principles that unite us,” said Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis (pictured).
• Swiss military justice has opened several criminal proceedings against Swiss nationals in connection with the war in Ukraine. Those concerned are suspected of having taken part in the conflict as volunteers or mercenaries, which is illegal under Swiss law. Seven proceedings are currently underway, a spokesman for the Office of the Attorney General told the Swiss News Agency Keystone-SDA on Thursday.
• Switzerland has hosted a global summit on patient safety, attended by around 80 ministerial delegations. At the summit, World Health Organization boss Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said poor conditions in hospitals are a major cause of mortality around the world. Estimates reckon that around 3 million people each year die due to unsafe conditions in hospitals – as many as in road accidents. 

Keystone / AP

Ukraine conflict, a year on: what’s the outlook for Switzerland?

Unless you live under a rock, you will already have realised that today marks exactly a year since Russia invaded Ukraine (at a time when things move so fast, it’s a strange experience to read the news we wrote at the time, just 12 months ago). Since then, Switzerland has had to face some tricky questions: from the initial head-scratching about EU sanctions, to fretting about energy sources, then trying to house refugees, and hastily debating the future of neutrality and arms exports. But how has the war really changed things in the Alpine Nation? Has it changed things at all? SWI swissinfo.ch’s Marc Leutenegger sums up the situation for Switzerland one year on – and ventures a few predictions as to what will happen next.

Irna

Swiss ambassador gets dressing down on social media.

It just wouldn’t be a normal week in Switzerland if there weren’t at least three debates ongoing about Islamic clothing. In Geneva, where authorities have allowed the wearing of the burkini – a long swimming costume that also covers the head – in public pools, a “lively political and social debate” has been brewing, RTS writesExternal link. Then in Bern, a Senate commission has been busy with the burka, the full-face covering which citizens voted in 2021 to ban in public spaces. On Wednesday it decided to reject the government’s proposed law implementing the ban, which it said didn’t give enough power to the cantons.

Now the chador has taken over, after an unfortunate visit by the Swiss ambassador in Iran to the holy city of Qom. Flanked by Shiite clerics, the ambassador was pictured wearing the full-body-length garment, a decision that was promptly slammed by supporters of the protest movement in Iran, which is fighting (and dying) for the right not to have to wear such clothes. The Swiss foreign ministry tried to defend itself, stressing the ongoing importance of keeping all diplomatic channels open, and appealing to “interfaith dialogue”. But there’s not much of that happening these days.

Keystone / Dorothea Mueller

Have you brushed your teeth? Elmex at 60.

If you were born in Switzerland, or spent a significant amount of time there, you’ve probably come across Elmex. Otherwise, it’s less likely. Switzerland’s “national tooth-paste maker”, which still has various varieties lining supermarket shelves, is celebrating its 60th birthday, the NZZ Magazin writesExternal link. From 1963, as the first toothpaste to contain Amine Fluoride as protection against then-rampant caries, Elmex played a key role in stopping a prospective national tooth-loss epidemic, the paper writes. Six decades later, it’s still being used for mass teeth-washing campaigns in schools, but it’s no longer Swiss-controlled; Colgate bought it in 2003.