Government sets priorities for Switzerland for 2027; Geneva’s international organisations have withstood US financing cuts; plus others news in our Tuesday roundup.
Government sets priorities for Switzerland for 2027
During the opening of the autumn session of the Parliament on Monday, President Guy Parmelin presented four goals the Federal Council has set for the country for next year.
They are:
- Switzerland secures its long-term prosperity and seizes the opportunities offered by the digital age.
- Switzerland fosters national and intergenerational cohesion.
- Switzerland ensures security, works for peace, and acts consistently and reliably on the international stage.
- Switzerland protects the climate and safeguards natural resources.
Geneva’s international organisations have withstood US financing cuts
International Geneva is “demonstrating resilience in the face of geopolitical shifts ” the Federal Council said on Monday.
Despite the US cutting its funding for the United Nations, “the urgent measures implemented in 2025 by the federal government, the canton, and the city of Geneva itself are bearing fruit: no international organisation has left Switzerland, and two new entities have established themselves in Geneva in recent months,”” the government said in a press release.
“While some job losses in the international sector are regrettable, the overall impact has been less severe than feared,” it added.
Nearly 200 vehicles caught crossing the border into Switzerland without a motorway vignette
During recent checks at two border crossings near Basel, the Federal Office for Customs and Border Security (BAZG) caught 191 vehicles crossing into Switzerland without a valid vignette.
Surprisingly, foreigners were not the worst offenders: Swiss drivers accounted for 111 of these cases.
They had to purchase the vignette on the spot and also pay a 200-franc fine.
READ MORE: How you can save money on your 2026 Swiss motorway vignette
Swiss prosecutors investigate driver after deadly coach crash
Swiss prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into the driver of a coach that crashed in Graubünden Switzerland last week, killing five Dutch tourists, authorities said on Monday.
The driver is under investigation on suspicion of “negligent homicide and causing injury through negligence”, Graubunden prosecutor Bruno Ulmi Stuppani told AFP..
“The suspect has not been placed in pre-trial detention. We cannot provide any further details at this stage,” he added.
The crash happened on September 10th , when a coach carrying 45 Dutch tourists veered off the road and overturned in a roadworks zone between the towns of Susch and Zernez. (AFP)
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