Today in Switzerland: A roundup of the latest news on Wednesday
Claims that Switzerland will experience shortages and famine this winter; wages set to go up; and other news in our roundup on Wednesday.
Neutrality Initiative is officially launched in Switzerland
A new group, Pro-Schweiz, which claims that Swiss government is becoming too involved in international affairs, is pushing for a vote to protect the country’s tradition of neutrality.
On Tuesday, the association announced the launch of its first campaign, “Safeguarding Swiss neutrality”, which demands a new constitutional amendment that would ban the government from joining or even cooperating with NATO, or any other military alliance.
While Switzerland is not part of NATO, it nevertheless has close ties with the organisation. And since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Swiss government has said it wants to extend the collaboration as a security measure.
Pro-Schweiz’s initiative also seeks to forbid Switzerland from imposing sanctions against a belligerent country, as it had done in case of Russia.
The association has a deadline of May 8th, 2023 to collect the 100,000 signatures required to put this issue to a nationwide note.
EXPLAINED: Why isn’t Switzerland in NATO?
Russian propaganda: Switzerland is facing ‘horror winter’
A Russian woman, Viktoria Petrova, who says she lives in Lausanne and works for Russia’s state media, has claimed that Switzerland is preparing for catastrophic conditions, which will include lack of water and electricity, and even famine.
To prove her point, she is seen on a video showing an outdated brochure that the Swiss government allegedly sent to all the residents, warning them of the impending doom.
However, Swiss authorities responded that the brochure is several years old and has never been sent out to Swiss households.
For its part, Switzerland’s media is dismissing the woman’s claims as “propaganda.”
Putin-Propaganda aus Lausanne: Russin behauptet, Schweiz fürchtet sich vor Hunger-Krise https://t.co/HDolmdDJcJ
— Blick (@Blickch) November 8, 2022
Wages increase in Switzerland – but purchasing power is going down
Swiss companies are planning a significant wage increase in 2023, but inflation will “eat up” the gains, leading to a record-high loss of real wages, instead.
This is the finding of a new UBS wage survey released on Tuesday.
On average, Swiss companies plan to increase nominal wages by 2.2 percent across all sectors, which is the highest raise in almost 15 years. However, if inflation is taken into account, real wages will actually fall by 1.8 percent.
On the positive side, UBS economists don't expect a recession to hit Switzerland — unlike the eurozone countries.
Swiss are depressed over rising costs of living
One in three people in Switzerland expect their financial situation to deteriorate, according to a new survey released by Comparis price comparison site.
The main reason for the blues for the majority of respondents (63.6 percent) is the cost of health insurance premiums, set to go up by 6.6 percent on average in 2023 — the sharpest hike in years.
The second source of depression — for 30.8 percent of study participants — are higher rents and mortgage rates.
READ MORE: EXPLAINED: Why are Swiss health insurance premiums set to rise?
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]
Comments
See Also
Neutrality Initiative is officially launched in Switzerland
A new group, Pro-Schweiz, which claims that Swiss government is becoming too involved in international affairs, is pushing for a vote to protect the country’s tradition of neutrality.
On Tuesday, the association announced the launch of its first campaign, “Safeguarding Swiss neutrality”, which demands a new constitutional amendment that would ban the government from joining or even cooperating with NATO, or any other military alliance.
While Switzerland is not part of NATO, it nevertheless has close ties with the organisation. And since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Swiss government has said it wants to extend the collaboration as a security measure.
Pro-Schweiz’s initiative also seeks to forbid Switzerland from imposing sanctions against a belligerent country, as it had done in case of Russia.
The association has a deadline of May 8th, 2023 to collect the 100,000 signatures required to put this issue to a nationwide note.
EXPLAINED: Why isn’t Switzerland in NATO?
Russian propaganda: Switzerland is facing ‘horror winter’
A Russian woman, Viktoria Petrova, who says she lives in Lausanne and works for Russia’s state media, has claimed that Switzerland is preparing for catastrophic conditions, which will include lack of water and electricity, and even famine.
To prove her point, she is seen on a video showing an outdated brochure that the Swiss government allegedly sent to all the residents, warning them of the impending doom.
However, Swiss authorities responded that the brochure is several years old and has never been sent out to Swiss households.
For its part, Switzerland’s media is dismissing the woman’s claims as “propaganda.”
Putin-Propaganda aus Lausanne: Russin behauptet, Schweiz fürchtet sich vor Hunger-Krise https://t.co/HDolmdDJcJ
— Blick (@Blickch) November 8, 2022
Wages increase in Switzerland – but purchasing power is going down
Swiss companies are planning a significant wage increase in 2023, but inflation will “eat up” the gains, leading to a record-high loss of real wages, instead.
This is the finding of a new UBS wage survey released on Tuesday.
On average, Swiss companies plan to increase nominal wages by 2.2 percent across all sectors, which is the highest raise in almost 15 years. However, if inflation is taken into account, real wages will actually fall by 1.8 percent.
On the positive side, UBS economists don't expect a recession to hit Switzerland — unlike the eurozone countries.
Swiss are depressed over rising costs of living
One in three people in Switzerland expect their financial situation to deteriorate, according to a new survey released by Comparis price comparison site.
The main reason for the blues for the majority of respondents (63.6 percent) is the cost of health insurance premiums, set to go up by 6.6 percent on average in 2023 — the sharpest hike in years.
The second source of depression — for 30.8 percent of study participants — are higher rents and mortgage rates.
READ MORE: EXPLAINED: Why are Swiss health insurance premiums set to rise?
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]
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.