Signatures collected for anti-immigration initiative: “All our major problems are related to immigration”

Blick: Mr. Matter, last July you launched the sustainability initiative against a Switzerland of 10 million inhabitants. How far along are you with the initiative?
Thomas case: The initiative stands. We have collected approximately 110,000 certified signatures and are now calling on the sections to quickly return the remaining signature sheets. We will submit the initiative at the end of March or beginning of April.

That is record-breaking fast.
The migration problem is burning under people’s fingernails. Since 2002, the population has grown by 1.5 million. In 2022 alone, more than 180,000 people were added, including Ukrainian refugees and asylum seekers. We cannot sustain such growth if we want to preserve our beautiful Switzerland. All the major problems our country has are directly or indirectly related to immigration.

They make foreigners scapegoats for everything. This is pure populism.
It is simply a fact that massive immigration is responsible for the population explosion. And for the associated problems: housing shortages, rising rents, rising healthcare and social costs, traffic jams on the streets and overcrowded trains, the risk of a lack of electricity, integration problems in schools, a healthcare system on the verge of collapse, more serious crime. We are reaching our limits in almost all areas.

In 2014, the mass immigration initiative was passed. Why isn’t this enough for you?
Because it simply wasn’t implemented! Shortly afterwards, the Federal Court ruled that international law trumps our Constitution. The center-left majority in parliament saw this as an opportunity to do nothing and not change the comma on the free movement of people. In the debate we were accused of simply having to demand an end to the free movement of people.

You are now correcting this with a kind of guillotine clause: if the 10 million limit is exceeded within two years, the Federal Council must terminate the agreement on free movement.
We give the Federal Council and Parliament the opportunity to prevent this scenario. We are not fundamentally against immigration, but we must be able to manage and control it ourselves. If the 9.5 million limit is exceeded, measures are necessary. The initiative strengthens the negotiating position of the Federal Council vis-à-vis the EU to provide the free movement of people with protective clauses. The opposite of what is happening with the EU Framework Agreement 2.0 currently under discussion, which continues to extend the free movement of people.

Where do you see an expansion?
For example, by largely adopting the EU Citizens’ Directive. This means that EU citizens would receive a settlement permit after five instead of ten years and could stay here, even if they become unemployed or dependent on social assistance. This is a blatant violation of our Constitution. We are therefore investigating whether we will take criminal action against those responsible at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

I’m sorry, what? Why?
Because this framework agreement violates several articles of our Federal Constitution and would not protect Switzerland’s interests. Direct democracy and federalism would also be greatly affected. Anyone who negotiates such an agreement is committing treason!

Do you think Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis is a traitor?
Every official in the State Department who is responsible for the negotiations and who supports and even promotes this colonial treaty bears full responsibility. The FDFA has mutated into a satellite from Brussels that represents EU interests instead of Swiss interests.

This is just political saber-rattling.
Just wait and see. We are currently seriously investigating the legal situation.

More about the sustainability initiative

Bottleneck in the real estate market

How immigrants cause housing shortages

Rental prices have been particularly affected

Immigration has fueled real estate prices

Who gets how much space?

What ten million people in Switzerland mean

Nothing to do with cutting corners

Maurer is committed to the SVP sustainability initiative

Overwhelmed Switzerland?

These successful immigrants are making a difference in the country

Back to your initiative: the Federal Council is currently examining the scenario of how a livable Switzerland for 10 million people would be possible.
The quality of life in Switzerland is already suffering by 9 million. I don’t see any scenario in the medium term how this will improve by 10 million.

Our quality of life will not improve if we continue to lack skilled workers. For example, nurses in the healthcare sector. Or engineers in industry.
For this we do not need unlimited immigration. On the contrary: it increases the shortage of skilled workers. Instead, we need to control immigration and bring in the people we really need. With the current immigration policy that the center left is responsible for, not only are too many people coming to our country, but also the wrong people. Prosperity per capita has been stagnating for years.

Demographic researchers expect the population to grow to over 9.5 million and then decline again – for example due to the low birth rate. Your initiative is unnecessary.
I have heard many fairy tales and can’t help but laugh at them. In the referendum on the free movement of people, the Federal Council spoke of a net immigration of 8,000 to 10,000 EU citizens. The reality, however, is that between 40,000 and 60,000 immigrants come from the EU every year. Including third countries, even 80,000. And this is without the entire asylum area. Currently, a total of 100,000 immigrants arrive each year. It cannot continue like this.

But if we limit the population, won’t there eventually be a shortage of young people?
That’s true. We will therefore also have problems with social institutions such as the AHV or the pension funds. But we have to get through this and find better solutions! If we simply bring more and more people to Switzerland to pay the increasing AHV premiums, we will end up in a pyramid scheme and drive our entire country against the wall.

Perhaps the SVP should try a birth bonus initiative to solve the problem at home.
The population can shrink and prosperity still grow – if per capita growth increases. With fewer people – calculated per capita – you usually become much more productive. But again: the SVP is not against immigration. But we want to have them under control again.