Swiss parliament shifts to right in vote dominated by migrant fears

The anti-immigration Swiss People’s Party (SVP) won the biggest share of the vote in Sunday’s national parliamentary election, projections showed, keeping pressure on Bern to introduce quotas on people moving from the European Union. The political gains for the SVP, which was already Switzerland’s biggest single party, come 20 months after the Swiss in a referendum backed limits on foreigners living in the Alpine nation. The SVP had strongly supported the restrictions.

SVP did not even need to run a campaign. The migrant crisis ran the campaign for them.

Pascal Sciarini, a political scientist at Geneva University

The political shift to the right comes as surging numbers of migrants and refugees moving through Europe have heightened the focus on the issue in Switzerland, even though the wealthy Alpine nation is yet to be significantly affected by the crisis. Meanwhile, in Eastern Europe, thousands remained stranded in fog and cold weather in the Balkans today, a day after Hungary closed its border with Croatia and the flow of people was redirected to a much slower route via Slovenia. Tiny Slovenia has said it will only take in 2,500 people a day, significantly stalling the movement of people as they fled their countries in the Middle East, Asia and Africa.

We have to make Europe less attractive and send a signal that we cannot give asylum here, not even to refugees of war.

Toni Brunner, SVP chief

Europe Swiss SVP