Switzerland Today

Dear Swiss Abroad,

If you are relaxing in the sun this weekend, spare a thought for the poor workers who are clearing awayExternal link the huge walls of snow that are still blocking the Nufenen and other Swiss mountain passes after abundant snowfalls this winter.

Read on for more news and stories from Switzerland.

The Ukraine peace summit will be held at the Bürgenstock resort near Lucerne. Keystone/Michael Buholzer

In the news: Credit Suisse bondholders, Swiss NGO/Moscow arrest, coffee alliance, solar industry, drug ring crackdown.

• Credit Suisse bondholders have sued Switzerland over the decision to wipe out $17 billion of debt when the bank was rescued by its rival UBS last year.
• The Swiss-based conflict mediation group Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue says it is working to secure the release of one of its advisers, a French national who was arrested in Moscow on Thursday on suspicion of violating Russia’s “foreign agent” law.
• The federal government wants to set up new contact and drop-in centres for people suffering from addiction. This was announced on Thursday following a meeting with cities, cantons and specialist organisations on the current crack cocaine situation. 
• An alliance of Swiss traders, roasters, cafés, bureaucrats, academia and NGOs has launched the Swiss Sustainable Coffee Platform (SSCP)External link to try to raise the sustainability bar across the entire sector.  
• Swiss President Viola Amherd says the Ukraine peace conference organised by her country in mid-June is only a prelude to further negotiations.
• The Swiss government says it opposes the introduction of special industrial policy or measures to help boost the domestic photovoltaic industry. The focus is on solar R&D.
• The discovery of empty cocaine packaging and shredding equipment at an illegal landfill site in Antwerp, Belgium, led investigators on the trail of an Albanian drug trafficking gang. Three arrests were made in Switzerland as a result of international co-operation. Across Europe, a total of 17 people were arrested. 

The Gotthard Pass on May 29, 2024. Keystone / Ti-Press / Alessandro Crinari

Workers struggle to clear Switzerland’s snowy mountain passes.

This winter has seen abundant snowfall high up in the Swiss Alps, especially on glaciers and mountain passes.

The Nufenen Pass (2,478 metres) is Switzerland’s second highest pass, linking Brig in canton Valais with Airolo in canton Ticino. The link is scheduled to reopen on June 14. But it’s a race against time for workers who are still clearing incredibly thick walls of snow.

Bulldozers and technical experts have been working non-stop to remove huge piles of snow, some almost ten metres high. Swiss public television RSI captured footage of the white landscape and the clearing operation at the Nufenen Pass a few days ago.

Similar efforts were needed to re-open the Gotthard Pass, which was delayed due to exceptional snowfall until May 29.

Switzerland’s 1,400 glaciers are also covered by thick layers of snow following up to six metres of snowfall this winter. My recent interview with Swiss glaciologist Matthias Huss looks at the impact of the huge dump of snow and why the long-term future of the steadily shrinking Alpine glaciers remains grim.

Keystone / Gaetan Bally

In the event of a death, the payment of “third pillar” pension funds should become more flexible.

In the future, people will have more flexibility in deciding who they leave their ‘third-pillar’ pension funds to, the Swiss government has decided. Until now, children from previous relationships were disadvantaged.

Until now, children from a previous relationship were systematically disadvantaged compared to their spouse or registered partner. The order of beneficiaries was laid down by law and could not be changed. Policyholders currently do not have the option of choosing how they wish to distribute their pension capital among their next of kin.

Surviving spouses and registered partners are always the first beneficiaries and receive the entire pension capital. If there are no spouses or partners, the capital goes to the children, life partners or dependants. And so on until there is at least one beneficiary.

These rules place children at a disadvantage. The Federal Council is therefore proposing to allow holders of a “third pillar” fund to put their children at the top of the list of beneficiaries, in the same way as a partner. The partner will no longer be the sole beneficiary of the assets but will share them with the children.