| Submit your comments on this article |
| Europe |
| Swiss vote to ditch border checks |
| 2005-06-06 |
| The Swiss have given a vote of confidence to the shaken European Union, approving participation in an EU system ending passport checks at the country's border. In a two-issue referendum on Sunday, a majority also voted in favour of granting more rights to same-sex couples in the first time the subject has been put to a national vote in Europe. About 55% of voters, or 1.47 million people, supported joining Europe's passport-free Schengen zone by 2007, indicating the Swiss favour closer integration with the EU, of which the country is not a member. Swiss President Samuel Schmid hailed the result as backing for the coalition government's policy of developing closer links with the rest of Europe, but said it would not ignore the large minority that voted against Schengen membership |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #6 I don't think it matters much in the case of Switzerland because, if you somehow managed to get into one of the surrounding countries...well you're pretty much in anyway. It's not like they're surrounded by Iran, Syria, etc. |
| Posted by: Rafael 2005-06-06 23:44 |
| #5 So who stops the illegals from crossing the border into Switzerland and setting up shop in some anonymous ghetto? Or do the Swiss police do sweeps and clean out the trash on a regular basis? I am just asking a stupid question, but someone needs to ask. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2005-06-06 23:02 |
| #4 So does that mean their borders are as secure now as ours? |
| Posted by: Yosemite Sam 2005-06-06 10:42 |
| #3 The Swiss have had bilateral agreements with their neighbours Itali, France, Austria, Germany and Liechtenstein for years. The Swiss voted ya, si, oui to two old treaties called Schengen & Dublin. Under the Schengen treaty Switzerland will abandon identity checks on its borders. But it will gain access to a Europe-wide crime database. This is likely to take place in 2007. The Dublin accord allows the Swiss to turn away asylum seekers who have already filed a request in another signatory country. |
| Posted by: SwissTex 2005-06-06 10:03 |
| #2 How curious that this is a front-page headline on Al-Jazeera. Why on earth would they care? Oh, right. |
| Posted by: ST 2005-06-06 09:43 |
| #1 I don't ever remember seeing the guardhouses manned at the Swiss border. Not even when we needed help during an unexpected snowfall. (This was over a decade ago.) I suppose now they are making it official. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2005-06-06 07:16 |