Young Swiss support UN membership

200 youngsters took part in the tenth federal youth session in Bern Keystone

Young Swiss parliamentarians have expressed their support for a stronger Swiss presence abroad by voting in favour of the country joining the United Nations.

After the four-day meeting of the 200 youngsters, the delegation demonstrated their support for Switzerland joining the UN by voting 134 in favour and 28 against.

The youngsters, aged between 14 and 20, also called for an international organisation to push through an effective international environmental policy.

Furthermore the young parliamentarians wanted Switzerland to take on an active and neutral role as peace mediator within the UN by lobbying against arms deals.

Another issue of the meeting dealt with Switzerland supporting fair trade and helping fight poverty in the world.

Networking

Foreign minister Joseph Deiss, who spoke to the youngsters at the House of Representatives, said his department was working on making Switzerland part of the global network.

“Switzerland has to be part of the network and this means it has to be part of the UN,” he said.

The tenth federal youth session started on Thursday and focused mainly on Switzerland’s UN membership and other issues of foreign policy.

After the meeting the delegation presented the issues to Peter Hess, the speaker of the House of Representatives.

The youth session was launched in 1991, when Switzerland celebrated its 700th anniversary.

swissinfo with agencies