Geneva’s lawmakers support funding for and protection of international organisations; Zurich airport rated highly in international ranking; and more Swiss news in our Friday roundup.
MPs support protection for international organisations in Geneva
Faced with lack of funding from the US, Geneva’s parliament has passed a resolution to safeguard UN and NGO agencies on its territory.
The resolution also calls on Bern to develop a national strategy to promote the relevance and impact of international organisations.
This move follows the vote in the cantonal parliament in February, approving the emergency aid of 10 million francs to NGOs.
This was an immediate response to the significant funding cuts decided on by Donald Trump, which are having a severe impact on the activities of International Geneva, with hundreds of jobs affected.
READ ALSO: Geneva demands government protects agencies facing US aid cuts
Zurich ranked among world’s best airports
In its 2025 ranking of 100 airports around the world, the rating platform Skytrax placed Switzerland’s largest airport in the 10th place.
The facilities, comfort, cleanliness, shopping and dining options, as well as service and security checks all perform well. Zurich even took first place in the “Cleanest Airport in Europe” category.
The landside area also received an excellent report: Zurich is “world leader” when it comes to leisure activities and family-friendly infrastructure, according to the assessment.
But there is a downside as well: the train which transfers passengers between the terminals, is a “bottleneck.”
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Switzerland approves the EU Programmes Agreement
Following the new bilateral treaties concluded in December 2024, the Federal Council approved the funding of the EU Programmes Agreement (EUPA), which regulates Swiss participation in Horizon Europe, Erasmus+, Euratom, ITER, Digital Europe, and EU4Health.
Since all these programmes are among the most renowned in the world in the fields of training, research, and innovation, it is important for non-EU member Switzerland to be involved in these projects, according to the government.
The agreement, which “also paves the way for potential future participation in other EU programmes,” will come into effect after the ratification of bilateral treaties in Switzerland.
As the multi-step ratification process, which may involve one or more referendums, could potentially take several years, in the meantime EUPA will be provisionally applied until December 31st, 2028 at the latest.
“This will enable swift association [of Switzerland] in the current generation of research and innovation programmes for 2021-2027,” the government pointed out.
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More direct trains will be launched from Zurich to EuropaPark from tomorrow
On April 12th, Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) will begin operating a new direct service between Zurich and EuropaPark, a popular attractions venue in Rust, Germany.
The trains will run to and from the theme park on Saturdays and Sundays, as well as on some public holidays, and will supplement the already existing SBB service to the park from Basel.
This link provides more information about the service, including the timetable and prices.
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