Switzerland Today
Greetings from Zurich!
It seems everyone has had their say on the forced sale of Credit Suisse to UBS – and unsurprisingly, none of it has been positive.
On Tuesday, both chambers of parliament started a three-day special session to give vent to their feelings on the banking failure.
More on that as the week unfolds.
In the news: Russian sanctions, refugee deadlock and greenhouse gas emissions.
- The head of the Secretariat for Economic Affairs has been defending Switzerland’s record at imposing and enforcing sanctions against Kremlin supporters.
- Italy has suspended its Dublin Agreement obligations to take back refugees from Switzerland until further notice.
- Greenhouse gas emissions rose slightly in Switzerland in 2021 but are still 18.2% lower than in 1990.
Disintegrating Alps
Residents of the remote Graubünden village of Brienz are preparing for an emergency evacuation to avoid being in the path of an anticipated rockslide.
The whole village, complete with around 100 inhabitants, has been inexorably sliding down the Albula valley – parts of the slopes moving at a rate of 32 metres per year. Above them, the unstable rocks appear poised to come crashing down.
This precarious situation has been a feature of Brienz life for years, but geologists are forecasting a catastrophic event later this year. Managed evacuation plans are well advanced, reports SRFExternal link.
YouTube is full of Swiss rockslide and flood events that bear witness to the deterioration of the Alps.
In 2005, another Brienz, in the Bernese Oberland, was nearly swept away but a huge mudslide.
Elsewhere in Switzerland, residents of other villages and towns – such as Kandersteg – nervously look over their shoulders at the teetering mountains that form a backdrop to their lives.
When is a Swiss not a Swiss?
A sports commentator has raised hackles by saying of a Swiss national football player: “He is many things, but he is not Swiss”.
Many die-hard football fans might argue that representing the national football team in the World Cup is a greater symbol of Swissness than the red passport.
But, to many people’s surprise, the football commentator does not see it that way.
Over the weekend, a documentary about the Swiss national football team was released, which features the controversial statement about Swiss national captain, Granit Xhaka.
While Xhaka was born in Basel, his family originated from Kosovo. The sports commentator has faced backlash for his comment and has been accused of racism.
In his defense, he says the comment was taken out of context and was a part of a longer dialogue. While he hasn’t offered a public apology to Xhaka, he would like to meet the player to explain himself in person.
This raises the bigger question about Swissness and what it means to be Swiss. The Federal Statistical Office (FSO) states that 39.5% of the Swiss population had a migration background in 2021. Last week, the FSO published statistics that show more than 800,000 Swiss citizens living abroad.
The current population is 8.7 million, meaning that almost 10% of Swiss citizens live abroad.
What does it mean to be a Swiss abroad? What does it mean to be an expat living in Switzerland? Share your experiences with us.
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