Nearly 55% of voters in Switzerland on Sunday rejected an initiative championed by the top right-wing party to cap the rich Alpine country’s population at 10 million, early results showed.

The populist Swiss People’s Party, which has the most seats in parliament, has stirred up and fostered anti-migration sentiment over the years, notably about an influx of workers from the neighboring European Union.

Some have dubbed the proposal a “Swiss Brexit” because it could jeopardize Switzerland’s deep ties to the European Union anchored by deals that foster economic growth, cultural ties and cross-border travel, among other things. Switzerland is not one of the EU’s 27 member states, but it is all but surrounded by four of them

  • justlemmyin@lemmy.world
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    3 hours ago

    Aww yep, good to hear only 45% support ‘capping’ the people they don’t like, phew.

  • misery mansion@lemmy.world
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    1 hour ago

    I have no particular skin in this game, but reading the article:

    1. Results are still pending
    2. Turnout of 59% > 55% of 59% is actually 32%

    Come on folks 👀

  • vrek@programming.dev
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    3 hours ago

    I know this isn’t how it would work but im just picturing some one woman giving birth, the doctor hands her the newborn and she holds it for the first time… Some man walks in wearing a black suit and pulls out a gun. He shoots the baby through the head. “sorry that was the 10 million and 1 Swiss child, we have a limit!”

    • arrow74@lemmy.zip
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      2 hours ago

      Clearly it would be more humane to take out the oldest Swiss person instead of the youngest

      • vrek@programming.dev
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        43 minutes ago

        That could be worse…watching tv on the couch with your spouse, you both laugh at the joke suddenly the door opens and your partners head splatters everywhere. The man in a black suit says “sorry, the tompsons just had a baby”…

        • arrow74@lemmy.zip
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          41 minutes ago

          Statistically it’s more common for the oldest person to be a widow(er)

          But if the Swiss population started to get out of control maybe

      • Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        2 hours ago

        Much better idea: kill the richest person and distribute their wealth evenly amongst the rest of the population, public infrastructure, and social programs

        Repeat until there’s no billionaires, no poverty, and nobody has to go without anything essential for living in a modern society.

  • njm1314@lemmy.world
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    5 hours ago

    What does the article mean when it says switzerland is “all but surrounded by four of them”?

    • i_stole_ur_taco@lemmy.ca
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      4 hours ago

      It means Switzerland is all but surrounded by four EU member states. Germany, Italy, France, and Austria.

      The point being every country around them is in the EU and Switzerland is a notable enclave when you look at a map.

        • WanderingThoughts@europe.pub
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          3 hours ago

          If you’ve been to Lichtenstein, you know the answer is yes. We have villages that are bigger. And the architecture there is eclectic.

      • anothermember@feddit.uk
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        3 hours ago

        “All but” has always confused me as a phrase even as a native English speaker. You would think it means it isn’t surrounded at all, i.e. “all but:” = “the last thing it would be is:”, but apparently not.

        • severalkittens@ani.social
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          3 hours ago

          It’s the worst phrase and we need to stop using it! Most of the time the actual intended meaning can be found by just removing “all but”. Switzerland is all but surrounded == Switzerland is surrounded

          • molehill_siesta@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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            31 minutes ago

            It’s all but the worst phrase and we need to all but stop using it! All but most of the time the actual all but intended meaning can all but be found by just all but removing “all but”. Switzerland is all but all all but but surrounded == Switzerland is all but surrounded

          • dbdr@nord.pub
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            3 hours ago

            No, it means it’s almost surrounded. Lichtenstein is not part of the EU.

  • panthera_@lemmy.today
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    3 hours ago

    Switzerland should simply allow migrants with needed skills. This would automatically control migration and the population since it’s difficult to believe that Swiss have no skills.

    • sznowicki@lemmy.world
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      2 hours ago

      I might be wrong here but AFAIK they have a deal with EU that makes them join the four freedoms, which makes them not able to control who gets in and who not as long as the immigrants are from EU.

      • panthera_@lemmy.today
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        49 minutes ago

        You might be correct, but the EU is restricting immigration because some of its members such as Germany are facing pressure from far-right groups to control immigration.