Bern
\nSwitzerland on Sunday rejected a proposal to cap its population at 10 million, a projection showed, as \u200bvoters prioritised economic stability and ties with the European Union over worries immigration was straining public services and pushing up \u200crents.
\nThe projection by national broadcaster SRF, which traditionally calls referendum votes, showed about 45% of voters came out in favour of the proposal and 55% against.
\nThe vote, which was likened to Britain\u2019s 2016 Brexit referendum, had put businesses on edge due to concerns it could end the free movement of labour between Switzerland and the EU, the country\u2019s main \u200btrading partner.
\nThe proposal, championed by the right-wing Swiss People\u2019s Party, stipulated that the population must not exceed 10 million before 2050, and \u200bthat if it did so for two years, Switzerland should end freedom of movement with the EU.
\nUrs Bieri from polling firm GFS Bern said the initiative failed to pass because although concern about population growth is widespread, people were not convinced by the plan \u200band were worried about possible side effects.
\n\u201cVoters were worried about negative consequences for Switzerland\u2019s relationship with the EU and for the labour market,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cPeople are also \u200bworried about things like having enough care and health workers. Also, there\u2019s a feeling that in the current international environment it\u2019s not sensible for a small country to do this,\u201d Bieri added.
\nMore than a quarter of Swiss foreign-born
\nThe Swiss population already stands at 9.1 million and has grown far more quickly than in the surrounding EU. Foreigners \u200bmake up nearly 28% of the Swiss population, which official projections forecast will reach 10 million by the early 2040s.
\nPolls had forecast a close outcome, \u200band the result tallied with a final survey by GFS Bern, which had predicted the proposal would be narrowly rejected.
\nStill, the backing for the measure sits alongside growing support \u200cfor policies aimed at curbing immigration across Europe. Campaign posters proclaimed that only 10% of incomers were skilled workers and that asylum seekers were more likely to be rapists.
\nMarcel Dettling, president of the Swiss People\u2019s Party, told SRF the initiative had been very popular in rural areas, but had ultimately been defeated by urban voters.
\n\u201cNot a single problem has been solved,\u201d he said. \u201cWe will continue to push for sensible immigration.\u201d
\nA preliminary estimate put turnout at about 58%, well above \u200bthe recent average of 48% for \u200bSwiss referendums.
\nBusiness groups hail \u2018important signal\u2019
\nBusiness groups welcomed the referendum result after warning that a population cap would limit access to foreign workers, damage the economy and sour relations with Brussels.
\n\u201cThe initiative\u2019s rejection sends out an important signal for an open and internationally connected Switzerland,\u201d \u200bsaid Martin von Moos, president of HotellerieSuisse.
\nOpponents had dubbed the plan a recipe for chaos because of the \u200bupheaval it could cause.
\nThey also questioned whether it was wise to clash with Brussels after a bruising 2025, when President Donald Trump slapped the highest U.S. tariffs in Europe on Swiss goods.
\nThe no campaign had run posters with an image of a smiling Trump and the caption: \u201cBreaking with Europe, now of all times?\u201d
\nPatrick Leisibach, a migration expert at think tank \u200bAvenir Suisse, said economic arguments had played a key role, with people wary of how \u200ba \u201cyes\u201d vote would affect their daily lives.
\n\u201cThey wonder \u2018who is going to serve me at the restaurant?\u2019 and \u2018who is going to care for me when I get old?\u2019 It\u2019s more about personal \u200bwelfare, which made people reject this initiative,\u201d Leisibach said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Bern Switzerland on Sunday rejected a proposal to cap its population at 10 million, a projection showed, as \u200bvoters prioritised economic stability and ties with the European Union over worries immigration was straining public services and pushing up \u200crents. The projection by national broadcaster SRF, which traditionally calls referendum votes, showed about 45% of voters …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":99075,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-99054","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99054","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99054"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99054\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":99076,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99054\/revisions\/99076"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}