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Swiss sense of security increases: report

The Local
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Swiss sense of security increases: report
swiss-image.ch/Nico Schaerer

In 2018 the Swiss generally feel very safe, are optimistic about Switzerland’s future and less pessimistic than in the past about the global political situation.

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These are the findings of the Security 2018 study conducted by the Military Academy and Centre for Security Studies at the ETH Zurich.

Since 1999 the annual survey has evaluated trends in public opinion on foreign, security and defence policy issues.

In the 2018 report special attention was paid to the fight against terrorism, the authors said.

Source: ETH

At 95 percent, the Swiss sense of security is “very high”, the ETH said, and significantly more respondents feel safe in public areas.

Fear of crime is minimal and has not changed in comparison with last year.

But there is more confidence around with 85 percent of Swiss saying they are optimistic about Switzerland’s future, compared with 80 percent in 2017.

Asked about what was more important, personal freedom or protection against terror attacks, 64 percent said the latter.

They agreed with the statement that all means should be used to fight terrorism, even if this meant limiting personal freedoms.

“Combined with the strong support for increased measures to tackle terrorism (89 percent) this shows that the issue remains a high priority in 2018,” the authors concluded.

A majority trust the security services’ ability to fight terrorism; 62 percent agreed that increased security measures could prevent terror attacks.

Trust in Swiss institutions and authorities in general is higher than the long-term average, the authors said.

The police are trusted most, followed by the courts and the federal government.

 

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