SWITZERLAND: SWISS PEOPLE VOTE IN REFERENDUM ON WHETHER TO JOIN THE EUROPEAN UNION'S AGREEMENTS ON BORDERS AND ASYLUM
Record ID:
328711
SWITZERLAND: SWISS PEOPLE VOTE IN REFERENDUM ON WHETHER TO JOIN THE EUROPEAN UNION'S AGREEMENTS ON BORDERS AND ASYLUM
- Title: SWITZERLAND: SWISS PEOPLE VOTE IN REFERENDUM ON WHETHER TO JOIN THE EUROPEAN UNION'S AGREEMENTS ON BORDERS AND ASYLUM
- Date: 5th June 2005
- Summary: (BN08) GENEVA, SWITZERLAND (JUNE 5, 2005) (REUTERS) 1. WS: WOMAN WALKING INTO POLLING STATION/ ZOOM IN TO POSTER 0.21 2. VARIOUS OF POSTERS FOR YES OR NO VOTE (4 SHOTS) 0.44 3. VARIOUS OF PEOPLE CASTING VOTES (5 SHOTS) 1.19 4. VOTER, ARIEL HAEMMERLE, WALKING THROUGH POLLING STATION 1.29 5. (SOUNDBITE) (French) VOTER, ARIEL HAEMMERLE, SAYING: "I said Yes. The Schengen agreement doesn't change much, and the information exchange is quicker. I like the joke that says that only gangsters are afraid of Schengen." 1.48 6. (SOUNDBITE) (French) VOTER, HENRIETTE STEBLER, SAYING: "I voted No to the Schengen agreement, although I'm favourable to an open and social Europe. What bothers me is the enforcement of Eurodac, of these computer systems that index people. In Switzerland, bank secrecy is enforced, so all these gangsters trafficking women from Ukraine and drugs will be reinforced, whereas people like me will be indexed in computers, controlled by police. I don't want such a Europe. I want Europe to be open to all, not only white, but also Asians or Africans. The law needs to welcome everybody from all continents. I don't want reinforced borders, allowing more police control on small people. And again, bank secrecy is reinforced, that is not said enough, and it means our banks will continue receiving dirty money. I cannot accept such a Europe, but only an open and social Europe." 2.45 7. MAN WALKING BABY OUTSIDE POLLING STATION 2.54 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 20th June 2005 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
- Country: Switzerland
- Reuters ID: LVAB9Z3YURINROHVRT208P82614F
- Story Text: Swiss voters decide whether to join European Union
agreements on borders and asylum.
Swiss voters looked set on Sunday (June 5) narrowly
to approve joining the European Union's (EU) passport-free
'Schengen zone', taking the fiercely independent nation a
step closer to its neighbours.
Mounting political and economic woes in the European
Union have also left their mark on non-EU Switzerland,
where voters were far less enthusiastic about opening their
borders and sharing police information with surrounding
countries than opinion polls suggested just weeks ago.
According to a projection by Swiss state television
SF1, just 52 percent of voters approved the country's
accession to the Schengen treaty, named after the
Luxembourg village where it was drawn up, as well as
joining the so-called Dublin accords, which harmonise
asylum procedures across Europe.
Official results are not due for a few weeks, but the
final projection should be ready later on Sunday.
Swiss voters' muted support for closer ties with Europe
comes days after French and Dutch voters rejected a new
European Constitution that was supposed to cement the
bloc's union.
Geneva resident Ariel Haemerrle approved the move.
"I said 'Yes'. The Schengen agreement doesn't change
much and the information exchange is quicker. I like the
joke that says that only gangsters are afraid of Schengen."
But Henriette Stebler was opposed.
"I voted 'No' to the Schengen agreement, although I'm
favourable to an open and social Europe. What bothers me is
the enforcement of Eurodac, of these computer systems that
index people. In Switzerland, bank secrecy is enforced, so
all these gangsters trafficking women from Ukraine and
drugs will be reinforced, whereas people like me will be
indexed in computers, controlled by police. I don't want
such a Europe. I want Europe to be open to all, not only
white, but also Asians or Africans. The law needs to
welcome everybody from all continents. I don't want
reinforced boarders, allowing more police control on small
people. And again, bank secrecy is reinforced, that is not
said enough, and it means our banks will continue receiving
dirty money. I cannot accept such a Europe, but only an
open and social Europe," said Stebler.
Signing up to the Schengen and Dublin accords will
improve Switzerland's security, help resolve asylum
problems and bring economic benefits, said its supporters,
which include the country's four-party coalition government
as well as large parts of its industrial and banking elite.
They say rejection of the accord would isolate
Switzerland politically and prompted a flood of asylum
seekers rejected by neighbouring EU countries.
Critics, led by the far-right Swiss People's Party
(SVP) whose most prominent member, billionaire
industrialist Christoph Blocher, is also the country's
justice minister, fear it will undermine the country's
centuries-old neutrality and security.
The SVP has waged a fierce anti-Schengen campaign and
collected more than the 50,000 signatures needed to force a
popular referendum on the issue.
The Schengen agreements permit free movement between
member states by doing away with systematic border checks
on individuals. The Treaty of Dublin, for its part,
regulates and streamlines asylum issues between member
states.
Schengen and Dublin form part of a series of bilateral
treaties hammered out between Switzerland and the EU after
Swiss voters in 1992 rejected joining the bloc that
surrounds them.
Separately, Swiss voters on Sunday also approved a
proposal to register same-sex partnerships, giving
homosexual couples the same legal rights as married couples
in areas such as pensions, inheritance and taxes.
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