Today in Switzerland: A roundup of the latest news on Tuesday
Find out what's going on today in Switzerland with The Local's short roundup of the news.
Swiss MPs critical of government’s restraint toward massacre in Ukraine
While the European Union, the United States, and other countries have unanimously condemned Russia’s recent massacre of Ukrainian civilians in the city of Bucha, Switzerland’s reaction to the atrocity has been more measured.
Stellungnahme der Schweiz zu Entwicklungen in #Butscha pic.twitter.com/OfNNnGi4Ew
— EDA - DFAE (@EDA_DFAE) April 3, 2022
Now Swiss MPs are criticising President Ignazio Cassis for using the term “events” in reference to the massacre, instead of “war crimes” or “crimes against the humanity”, as other nations have done.
Cassis, who is also Switzerland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, responded that calling the murders crime against humanity “is not a political but a legal gesture. It is up to a court to characterise this situation as such. One can imagine that it is a crime against humanity, but diplomacy must be attentive to the use of words”.
He added that even though the images from Bucha “deeply shocked us all as human beings, a state must react with a cool head”.
Swiss pizza lovers to pay higher prices
A number of goods have become more expensive in Switzerland in the past weeks, including energy and raw materials, as well as foods like coffee and pasta, among others.
Now higher costs are also impacting one of Switzerland’s favourite foods: pizza.
That’s because since the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24th, the price of wheat — an ingredient in flour used to make pizza crust — has risen by over 30 percent.
An owner of a pizza restaurant in Zurich told Blick newspaper on Monday that the price of 31 francs he paid for 25 kg of flour before the invasion has now jumped to 48 francs.
As for Patrick Bircher, CEO of Dieci pizza chain, "in addition to the price increases for wheat, we are particularly concerned about any supply bottlenecks. There are massive price increases and an acute shortage of raw materials”.
READ MORE: How Covid, inflation and the Ukraine invasion has made Switzerland more expensive
Speaking of price hikes, they are also also hitting home
Single-family homes and apartments have become more expensive as well in March — by 0.5 and 0.4 percent respectively, according to the new Swiss Real Estate Offer Index, published Monday by Immoscout24.
While this may seem like a very insignificant increase in terms of percentage, given the already high price of Swiss properties, this amount can add up to tens of thousands of francs.
The price per square metre went up to about 7,277 francs for houses, and 8,192 francs for apartments — both higher than in February.
In terms of rents, there has been a slight downward trend in some regions: - 0.6 percent in central Switzerland, - 0.2 percent in the northwest, and - 0.3 percent in the Zurich area, the latter usually being among the most expensive in the country.
Prices remained unchanged in the Lake Geneva region and in eastern Switzerland, the study shows.
The war in Ukraine is "not yet having any direct effects" on the real estate market, but "it should affect housing costs indirectly through energy prices", possibly leading to "a significant increase in charges", according to Immoscout24.
READ MORE: Swiss rents: This is where cheapest and priciest apartments are
If you have any questions about life in Switzerland, ideas for articles or news tips for The Local, please get in touch with us at [email protected]
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Swiss MPs critical of government’s restraint toward massacre in Ukraine
While the European Union, the United States, and other countries have unanimously condemned Russia’s recent massacre of Ukrainian civilians in the city of Bucha, Switzerland’s reaction to the atrocity has been more measured.
Stellungnahme der Schweiz zu Entwicklungen in #Butscha pic.twitter.com/OfNNnGi4Ew
— EDA - DFAE (@EDA_DFAE) April 3, 2022
Now Swiss MPs are criticising President Ignazio Cassis for using the term “events” in reference to the massacre, instead of “war crimes” or “crimes against the humanity”, as other nations have done.
Cassis, who is also Switzerland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, responded that calling the murders crime against humanity “is not a political but a legal gesture. It is up to a court to characterise this situation as such. One can imagine that it is a crime against humanity, but diplomacy must be attentive to the use of words”.
He added that even though the images from Bucha “deeply shocked us all as human beings, a state must react with a cool head”.
Swiss pizza lovers to pay higher prices
A number of goods have become more expensive in Switzerland in the past weeks, including energy and raw materials, as well as foods like coffee and pasta, among others.
Now higher costs are also impacting one of Switzerland’s favourite foods: pizza.
That’s because since the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24th, the price of wheat — an ingredient in flour used to make pizza crust — has risen by over 30 percent.
An owner of a pizza restaurant in Zurich told Blick newspaper on Monday that the price of 31 francs he paid for 25 kg of flour before the invasion has now jumped to 48 francs.
As for Patrick Bircher, CEO of Dieci pizza chain, "in addition to the price increases for wheat, we are particularly concerned about any supply bottlenecks. There are massive price increases and an acute shortage of raw materials”.
READ MORE: How Covid, inflation and the Ukraine invasion has made Switzerland more expensive
Speaking of price hikes, they are also also hitting home
Single-family homes and apartments have become more expensive as well in March — by 0.5 and 0.4 percent respectively, according to the new Swiss Real Estate Offer Index, published Monday by Immoscout24.
While this may seem like a very insignificant increase in terms of percentage, given the already high price of Swiss properties, this amount can add up to tens of thousands of francs.
The price per square metre went up to about 7,277 francs for houses, and 8,192 francs for apartments — both higher than in February.
In terms of rents, there has been a slight downward trend in some regions: - 0.6 percent in central Switzerland, - 0.2 percent in the northwest, and - 0.3 percent in the Zurich area, the latter usually being among the most expensive in the country.
Prices remained unchanged in the Lake Geneva region and in eastern Switzerland, the study shows.
The war in Ukraine is "not yet having any direct effects" on the real estate market, but "it should affect housing costs indirectly through energy prices", possibly leading to "a significant increase in charges", according to Immoscout24.
READ MORE: Swiss rents: This is where cheapest and priciest apartments are
If you have any questions about life in Switzerland, ideas for articles or news tips for The Local, please get in touch with us at [email protected]
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