by Kacem El Ghazzali,* Switzerland
(9 May 2025) I love Sechseläuten. And I love roasting sausages over embers with a can of beer in my hand while the flames completely consume the “Böögg”. True Sechseläuten fans are not afraid of the hot embers. They persevere. Because it is precisely this collective experience of persevering together that is the magic of this unique Zurich ritual.
(9 May 2025) Interview with former Federal Councillor Christoph Blocher*, questions by Christoph Pfluger**
Christoph Pfluger: Neutrality is primarily understood in military terms, but as we are now seeing, it also has an economic component. How do you see it?
by Pascal Lottaz,* Japan
(2 May 2025) (CH-S) In recent weeks, pressure on Switzerland to join the European NATO alliance has increased enormously. Germany and France, as our country’s direct neighbours, as well as the United Kingdom, as a former world power, and the EU leadership want to urgently shift Europe towards a war economy and a state of readiness for war. Billions are being made available for this purpose. For them, war against Russia seems inevitable.
by Ralph Bosshard*
(14 April 2025) The appearance of the new US administration in Munich and Brussels, the scandal between US President Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House, and the spectacular offensive of the Russian army in the Kursk area have sent shockwaves through Europe and caused almost panicky reactions. The belated realisation that the conflict between Russia and Ukraine cannot be resolved militarily would actually force a rethink. Some trans Atlanticist are facing a difficult turnaround, and some have already made it clear that they are not prepared to do so.
by René Roca*
(4 April 2025) Switzerland should finally formulate an autonomous and independent security policy. This has been necessary for some time, but it is being put off. Apparently, an increasing integration with NATO is more important (e.g. Sky Shield).
by Thomas Scherr*
(4 April 2025) For many decades, our country has managed to stay out of existential danger – not only from the First and Second World Wars. Now Switzerland seems to be increasingly caught in the gravitational field of an increasingly belligerent and greedy-for-money EU.
At the same time, politics and the media in the country are buzzing around disorientated, with the navigation system switched off, through the undeclared, Europe-wide synchronised media opinion and emotions’ carpet. Who is familiar with the institutes “East StratCom Task Force”, “Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence” or “Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence”, which have been working since the mid-2010s? The censorship of opinion via the EU’s “Digital Services Act” is better known. What does this mean for Switzerland and its population?