Swiss parliament allocates millions to protect EU’s external borders

The Swiss parliament in Bern KEYSTONE/KEYSTONE

The Swiss parliament wants Switzerland to continue to contribute financially to the protection of the Schengen external borders. The Senate has approved a bill to this effect. This involves a contribution of around CHF300 million ($340 million) for seven years.

The Senate reached its decision on Wednesday by 34 votes to one with four abstentions. A minority from the right-wing Swiss People’s Party in the House of Representatives had opposed the bill. They criticised the failure to protect the Schengen external borders. Now that both chambers have voted in favour, the matter is ready for the final vote.

+ Schengen/Dublin accords are ‘positive’ for Switzerland

Specifically, it concerns payments into a fund to support those Schengen states that have a long external land or sea border or major international airports on their territory.

The so-called BMVI Fund replaces an older fund into which Switzerland had already been paying since 2018 and which expired in 2020. Switzerland is expected to contribute around CHF300 million for the period 2021 to 2027.

Translated from German by DeepL/ts

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