Swiss Senate votes to spend CHF11.3bn on foreign aid
Parliament is debating the size of Swiss foreign aid
Keystone-SDA
Select your language
Generated with artificial intelligence.
Listening: Swiss Senate votes to spend CHF11.3bn on foreign aid
The Swiss Senate has approved a total of almost CHF11.3 billion for aid to be spent abroad over the next four years, which broadly follows the Federal Council's proposal.
This content was published on
2 minutes
Keystone-SDA
Deutsch
de
Ständerat will 11,3 Milliarden für Hilfe im Ausland ausgeben
Original
During the vote, the parliamentary chamber approved each of the three government resolutions on international cooperation with a clear majority. The Swiss People’s Party and the Radicals voted against.
A motion for referral by Benjamin Mühlemann (Radical Party) was unsuccessful. The Glarus native wanted foreign aid to make savings of CHF2 billion in favor of higher military spending.
Esther Friedli (Swiss People’s Party) wanted to reduce the credit for development cooperation by CHF800 million. However, her individual motion was also rejected.
Amendments from the ranks of the Social Democrats also failed to find a majority. The main issue was whether reconstruction aid to Ukraine should also be financed from the international cooperation budget.
The left wing of the Senate argued that this would result in a massive cut in funding in other regions of the world. This faction demanded a different financing solution.
The matter now goes to the House of Representatives chamber for debate.
Translated from German by DeepL/mga
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, if you want to learn more about how we use technology, click here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to [email protected].
Popular Stories
More
Swiss Politics
In Switzerland, New Year brings ‘burka ban’ and pension hikes
Have you heard something about Swiss diplomacy that you’d like us to fact check?
Not all information circulating about Switzerland’s foreign relations is accurate or well understood. Tell us what you'd like us to fact check or clarify.
This content was published on
Researchers in Zurich have developed an electricity-free dehumidifier. It is a building element that allows walls and ceilings to absorb moisture from the air and store it temporarily.
Swiss man found dead in Iranian prison had allegedly collected soil samples
This content was published on
The Swiss man who died in an Iranian prison is said to have secretly taken soil samples beforehand, according to Iranian media.
This content was published on
Hackers have attacked the Swiss federal administration. Among other things, telephones, email and various federal websites and specialist applications were affected.
More and more Swiss celebrities and institutions leaving X
This content was published on
The short messaging service X has also lost its reputation in Switzerland. More and more personalities and institutions are turning their backs on tech billionaire Elon Musk's platform.
Driver going wrong way causes accident in Gotthard tunnel
This content was published on
A 76-year-old driver going in the wrong direction caused a head-on collision on the A2 motorway in canton Uri on Friday. Five people were injured.
Opponents of Crans-Montana ski work appeal to Federal Court
This content was published on
Opponents of the new finishing area stadium for the national piste in Crans-Montana, site of the 2027 Alpine World Ski Championships, have appealed to the Swiss Federal Court.
Environmental responsibility initiative goes too far for Swiss government
This content was published on
Natural resources must be conserved, but not to the extent demanded by the environmental responsibility initiative, say the Swiss government and parliament.
SWISS plane back in Zurich after emergency landing in Austria
This content was published on
Two-and-a-half weeks after an emergency landing in Graz in which a crew member died, the SWISS Airbus involved has returned to Zurich.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at [email protected].