Letter to the editor

Our Federal Council and Foreign Minister, Cassis actually expressed that in the case of accepting new bilateral and so-called subjugation agreements, he wants any new civil initiatives to firstly be reviewed by the EU. And later, before the vote, he wants to inform us with a voting booklet on tariff related consequences, which mean announcing the amount of the EU’s compensatory penalties, in case the results of the vote are not EU compatible. This is what one calls unacceptable interference in internal affairs! This reminds me of my school days; my father was a secondary school teacher. Long before his career, about 100 years ago, corporal punishment was still used but today, this belongs luckily to the past!
    There are alternatives!
    Instead of stubbornly insisting on treaties “with the EU”, which never ever concluded on equal footing because it lies unfortunately in the nature of things that the central authority of a confederation’s union of states always feels the need to discipline small, sovereign states. We have tried and tested the Free Trade Agreement of 1972, and for far-reaching agreements which are important to us, we should confront individual countries directly, on equal footing, in a way that truly deserves this description, without submissive requests when turning to the EU! Those with high level of education should therefore vote NO to the bilateral subjugation agreements! Or have you, dear readers, ever seen an intelligent person who first submissively inquires how many “slaps, beatings and punches” Switzerland can expect if everything is not implemented precisely and in line with EU requirements?

Marcus Stoercklé jun., Basel

(Transllation Current Concerns)