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Democrats Ramshield

(139 posts)
Tue Feb 11, 2014, 12:35 PM Feb 2014

Switzerland far right party of hate declares war on European immigration

My Daily Kos diary

Written by an American expat living in the E.U.

The alpine nation of Switzerland has declared WAR on the European Union's freedom of movement treaty, along with open borders negotiated throughout the European Union which the Swiss originally over a decade ago through years of negotiations voluntarily joined (though technically not as an EU member state). This new law has just passed on Sunday and was done through a referendum vote sponsored by a far right political party the so called SVP (people's party) which is a party built largely on a class based anti-foreigner xenophobic platform which seeks to promulgate hatred, intolerance and the expulsion of foreigners and the closing off of Switzerland to the outside world as an island fortress with migration quotas. As such, this promulgates new laws of intolerance that are a huge step backwards in the heart of the progressive minded European Union.


This isn't an old story about greedy Swiss bankers enriching themselves by hording Nazi gold stolen from Holocaust survivors and this isn't the same old story about Switzerland promulgating laws to deport poor foreigners who are cheating on unemployment or welfare benefits. This is instead a story of Switzerland's new class based xenophobia, directed not at rich foreigners but at working class foreign immigration to Switzerland which is promulgated by the populous far right SVP People's Party. As such this has frighten the day lights out of progressive EU politicians from across the entire EU block (which is over 500 million strong), of the rise again of far right wing populism, hatred and class based xenophobia taking hold in Europe once again, leading us back to the disastrous history that plagued Europe in the last century and broke out two world wars. This is from a tiny alpine nation of 8 million people punching far above its weight (as it is less than the population size of London, England). It is sad as well as a frightening spectacle to behold because it marks the rise in Europe to the old ghosts of hatred and class based xenophobia.


Please click on the link below to read the rest of this diary article. Thank you.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/02/11/1276694/-Switzerland-far-right-party-of-hate-declares-war-on-European-immigration-UPDATED
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FarCenter

(19,429 posts)
1. It's not far right, since it won the referendum. Over 50% of Swiss voter agreed with it.
Tue Feb 11, 2014, 12:44 PM
Feb 2014

The Swiss People's Party has 54 out of 200 seats in the National Council, the largest number of any party.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Assembly_of_Switzerland

pampango

(24,692 posts)
2. Oh it's far right by any objective standard.
Tue Feb 11, 2014, 12:57 PM
Feb 2014
It's a party of "national conservatism" and skeptical about any expansion of governmental services.
It rejects increases in government spending on social welfare and education.
It supports supply-side economics. Thus it is a proponent of lower taxes and is against deficit spending.
It opposes governmental measures for environmental protection.
It rejects expansion of the welfare state, and stands for a conservative society.
It commits itself to make asylum laws stricter and to reduce immigration.
It wants the racism penalty and anti-racism commission to be abolished in the interest of freedom of speech.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_People%27s_Party

I am not sure what you define as 'far right'. Of course this referendum was just about immigration, not about their whole agenda.

There are plenty of countries with far-right parties represented in their parliaments. That does not mean the parties are not far-right, just because they get people elected to office. "Far-right" is defined by the policies they pursue, not by their success in elections. (There was a famous German far-right party that won 33% of the seats in the German election of 1933. It was a far-right party, anyway.)

pampango

(24,692 posts)
5. I don't know that our far-right tea party would disagree with any of those policies. And republicans
Tue Feb 11, 2014, 01:11 PM
Feb 2014

themselves have gone pretty far-right all by themselves in the last 30 years. A republican today is much more far-right than 50 years ago. That does make it harder for the "real" far-right to distinguish itself from the 'conventional right' when they tend to support the same policies.

 

FarCenter

(19,429 posts)
6. EU in a panic after Swiss immigration vote
Tue Feb 11, 2014, 01:15 PM
Feb 2014
European Union politicians fear other countries will follow Switzerland's lead in restricting immigration.


http://www.dw.de/eu-in-a-panic-after-swiss-immigration-vote/av-17420274

Video from Deutsche Welle. Immigration flows from Central Europe and the Balkans have generated some backlash in other EU countries. This seems more the cause than the flows of "refugees" from non-EU countries, although that is a big issue in countries such as Greece.

I expect that the borders will go back up.

pampango

(24,692 posts)
8. "I expect that the borders will go back up." You may be right.
Tue Feb 11, 2014, 01:41 PM
Feb 2014
European right-wing hails Swiss vote to curb immigration

Right-wing parties in Europe hailed Swiss voters for approving curbs Sunday on EU immigration ...

Nigel Farage, the head of the UK Independence Party, Britain's main eurosceptic party, said Switzerland had stood up to "bullying" from unelected bureaucrats in Brussels. "This is wonderful news for national sovereignty and freedom lovers throughout Europe," said Farage, who is a member of the European parliament (MEP).

France's extreme right National Front party hailed "the Swiss people's lucidity" in a statement, calling for France to likewise stop "mass immigration".

Austria's far-right FPO party said that country would vote the same way given the chance, while Italy's populist Northern League demanded a similar referendum there.

http://www.expatica.com/ch/news/swiss-news/european-right-wing-hails-swiss-vote-to-curb-immigration_284840.html

The parties that want to do away with Europe's freedom of movement are certainly happy. With European elections scheduled for May, the right is on a roll.

Switzerland is not in the EU and only joined the Schengen (freedom of movement) area 5 years ago. It has avoided too much involvement with the rest of Europe for a long time. If they want out now, Europe will survive. All the Swiss (400,000) working in other European countries can come home and all the foreigners working in Switzerland can be sent packing.

For all of us who are not Swiss, it will be an interesting experiment to see if the Swiss are happier and more prosperous 10 years from now. If they are, that will be an endorsement of the People's Party's right-wing immigration policies. If they are not, they can hold a new referendum though the next one will probably come from a liberal party.

MicaelS

(8,747 posts)
7. What they are is scared to death about..
Tue Feb 11, 2014, 01:28 PM
Feb 2014
being run over by foreigners, who will suppress their wages and overrun their social safety nets. That immigration must be restricted as a very article of survival itself, and that what is at stake here is nothing short of their sovereignty, the maintenance of their language and culture and their very economic survival.


I think this is EXACTLY why the SVP won.

So people in high wage countries are supposed to let their wages be depressed because a flood of people from poorer Eastern countries will flood in and work for little of nothing?
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