Switzerland Today

Dear Swiss Abroad,

Here are the latest news and updates from Switzerland on Monday. If we’ve left out anything you’d like to see, or said anything you didn’t want to hear, don’t hesitate to write.

© Keystone / Georgios Kefalas

In the news: historic bank deal edging towards completion.

• UBS said today that its takeover of Credit Suisse could be wrapped up in a week from now, on June 12. The completion of the deal, orchestrated by the government in March, will see Credit Suisse delisted from the Swiss and US stock exchanges. The new, larger, UBS will represent a monster bank with a balance sheet of some $1.6 trillion.
• In May, the Swiss inflation rate dropped to its lowest level since the outbreak of war in Ukraine in February 2022. The headline year-on-year rate fell to 2.2%, compared to 2.6% in April and 3.4% at the start of 2023. Current inflation is driven more by domestic price increases rather than the cost of imported goods, the Federal Statistical Office said.
• Former government minister Simonetta Sommaruga is being mooted as a possible head for the Swiss Red Cross, the NZZ am Sonntag reported at the weekend. The organisation, not to be confused with the International Committee of the Red Cross, is in crisis after its president resigned last week following a damning report into leadership failures.

Keystone / Karla Salp

Facing a hornets’ nest in Geneva.

After the tiger mosquito, the tick, the wolf, and the immigrant, the latest wild animal to strike mortal fear into the Swiss populace is: the Asian hornet. Geneva in the southwest of the country has become a hornet hotbed in recent months, although sightings have also been made in other (mainly French-speaking) areas, Tamedia newspapers reportExternal link. According to a taskforce set up to track the pests, the key characteristic for spotting them is their colouring: more black than yellow, as opposed to the European hornet, which looks a bit like a huge wasp. And though they are not particularly dangerous to humans, the advice for when you find one is nevertheless drastic: kill it, and send a photo or video of your squashed victim to the authoritiesExternal link.

Keystone / Martial Trezzini

Switzerland: a haven of diversity.

In response to an interviewer once asking if his first sexual experience was with a man or a woman, the late US writer Gore Vidal apparently replied: “I didn’t think it was polite to ask”. Thankfully, the 500 Swiss recently polled by Ipsos on their sexual and gender orientation were not so coy (nor so witty) in their answers, and the results published at the weekend are striking. If they are to be trusted (500 is not a huge sample size), it turns out Switzerland has the third-highest amount of LGBT+ in its population in the world, at 13%. And when it comes to trans and non-binary folk, it’s the world leader, with 6%. On top of this, only 45% said transgender people were seriously discriminated against here – the lowest of all 30 countries surveyed. If it weren’t for the few hundred aggressions every year, it would almost be perfect.

© Keystone / Urs Flueeler

Gotthard toll idea: easing the blockage.

According to SRF, Swiss motorists could soon be facing a toll to travel through the Gotthard tunnel. Sick of the endless tailbacks whenever a public holiday pushes half the country southwards, a local politician from canton Uri is planning to propose this week a “dynamic toll system” to be used at the Gotthard at peak times like Easter, SRF reportsExternal link. While ideas to ease the pressure on the north-south route – including tolls – have been mooted for years, this one could have more chances of success, given the cross-party support, as well as the increased awareness of climate issues. Opponents say the plan is just a money-grab by local authorities, and the tax would just push motorists onto alternative routes, including over the mountain, which wouldn’t help. The idea is to be tabled in parliament later this week.