Switzerland Today

It’s raining here in Bern, and not just water droplets from the sky. Criticism of the federal government has poured down. Two of the federal councillors have been on the defensive this week. But they aren’t the only ones who have to explain themselves.

More on that in today’s briefing.

Climate fund initiative KEYSTONE/© KEYSTONE / PETER SCHNEIDER

In the News: more tourists, more foreigners and less cash.

• Signatures were handed in for the Climate Fund InitiativeExternal link today. If the initiative is accepted by the people and cantons, the federal government must fill the new climate fund annually and until 2050 with 0.5% to 1% of the gross domestic product (GDP). This should be used to combat global warming and its consequences for people, the economy and the environment.
• Swiss hotels set a guest record in 2023. With 41.8 million overnight stays, they broke the 40 million mark for the first time. This surpassed the previous record of 39.6 million from 2019. The hotel industry has therefore finally overcome the slump caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
• In 2023, debit cards were once again the most important means of payment in Switzerland, ahead of cash. In third place are digital devices such as mobile phones, tablets and smartwatches.
• Switzerland is boosting efforts to crack down on companies and individuals who are using the neutral country to circumvent sanctions imposed on Russia. The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) has set up a specialist team to investigate and enforce sanctions which Bern imposed following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine two years ago.
• Russian state television shows excerpts from Swiss public television SRF documentaries: shortened, distorted and misused. This is part of an effort to use Western figures for propaganda, according to journalists.

Viola Amherd KEYSTONE/KEYSTONE / ANTHONY ANEX

The president in the hot seat again over drama in the defence ministry

“I’m going to present a long list that probably isn’t very pleasant,” Alexis Favre, host of Swiss public television programme Infrarouge, toldExternal link Defence Minister Viola Amherd (pictured), who holds the rotating Swiss presidency this year.

It’s been a rough week or two for her and her department: a huge deficitExternal link in the Swiss army budget appeared to be overstated, the arms company RUAG signed a sales contract for Leopard 1 tanks before consulting her and the economics ministry, and then, the cherry on top, the head of Ruag resigned.

Amherd responded to the list, saying that she could clear up any misunderstandings in all of the cases and rejected the suggestion that there was a governance problem in her department.

But for some Swiss media, this is all just too much drama. The defence ministry is too busy with itself, wroteExternal link the NZZ, at a time when wars are raging.

She isn’t the only federal councillor who had some explaining to do. The newest member of the seven-seat Federal Council, Beat Jans, who heads the justice ministry, faced criticism for plans for an accelerated asylum procedure for people coming from certain countries. This means applications would be processed in 24 hours rather than 140 days.

Many said this was too short to evaluate a person’s personal situation, and that any hopes of people proving their vulnerability ahead of time is unrealistic.

Tibits KEYSTONE/© KEYSTONE / CHRISTIAN BEUTLER

Switzerland gets a bad taste of American tipping culture

One of the things I hate when I’m back in the US visiting family and friends is the tipping culture. Not only has the amount of tip gone up (sometimes around 20-30%) but it’s gone far beyond restaurants. A $5 to-go coffee from Starbucks will all of a sudden cost $7 with tip.

This has made its way to Bern, writes Der Bund today, and the Bernese aren’t happy about it. At the popular vegetarian restaurant TibitsExternal link, every customer receives a display asking them if they want to leave a tip when they pay by credit card.

This has left many dumbfounded because Tibits is a self-service restaurant. As one customer told the paper: “Am I really supposed to tip the Tibits employee for typing my food and handing me a glass of water over the counter?”

A spokesperson for the restaurant said the money goes to the whole restaurant team, so that would assume the cooks and the people who refill the buffet, which, by the way, they do very well. At the root of the problem though is probably less the request for a tip but the method by which customers were asked to pay it. As the article points out, there used to be piggybanks for tips on the counter and no one complained about it. Tipping is voluntary but the “surprise tactic” of asking someone via a machine upon paying, writes the paper, has left a bad taste in many people’s mouth.