by Guy Mettan,* Geneva
(5 July 2021) They dared! That was the first thought that came to my mind when the news of the purchase of the F-35 broke. Fascination with technology and subservience to the United States thus overrode all other political, military and geostrategic considerations.
by Toni Brunner*
(18 June 2021) It was during the last financial crisis in 2008/2009. The USA was looking for money and new sources of income and so the then US President Barack Obama attacked banking secrecy and with it Switzerland.
Our Federal Councillor for Eastern Switzerland, Hans-Rudolf Merz, said at the time: “You will have a tough time on our banking secrecy but you will not succeed!" In the summer of 2009, the big bank UBS delivered thousands of client data to the USA, and banking secrecy was eliminated.
Putin-Biden summit in Geneva
by Guy Mettan, independent journalist, Geneva
(14 June 2021) 36 years ago, on 19 November 1985, Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev met in Geneva for a summit that made Cold War history. I remember it like it was yesterday: it was my 29th birthday and I have kept my badge as an accredited journalist to this day.
by Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Carl Baudenbacher*
(8 June 2021) On 26 May 2021, the Federal Council, Switzerland’s seven-member government, broke off the seven-year negotiations between the EU and Switzerland on the conclusion of an Institutional Framework Agreement (“InstA”). Swiss friends of the InstA had tried to prevent this until the end, in part with very questionable means.
by Anne Challandes*
(21 May 2021) We, the Swiss farming families, do not want to have residues in the water either. Numerous measures are already in force and more are planned to ensure this.
The new regulations adopted by Parliament this spring set ambitious targets that make them the strictest regulation in Europe and a more appropriate response than the two initiatives that will be voted on in June.
by Esther and Felix Bürge
(21 May 2021) The pressure on our farmers has been increasing for some time. Environmental and animal welfare requirements are constantly being adjusted and raised. At the same time, however, production prices are being pushed down and farmers are receiving less and less pay for their valuable work of providing the population with healthy food.