The Swiss appeared Sunday to have voted down a divisive anti-immigration proposal to cap the country’s population, early projections showed. Shortly after polls closed at noon (1000 GMT), initial projections from the gfs.bern institute indicated around 55 percent opposition to the initiative, which had sparked warnings of “chaos” and devastating impacts for the Swiss economy and European Union relations.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. “We are very relieved and happy. This is an important result for our country and for our relations with the EU,” Monika Ruhl, director of the employers’ organisation economiesuisse, told public broadcaster RTS. Opinion polls had suggested that the vote, held under Switzerland’s direct democracy system, would be tight. Tensions have been running particularly high over the “No to a Switzerland with 10 million!” initiative, put forward by the hard-right Swiss People’s Party (SVP). That proposal wanted measures to stop the wealthy Alpine nation’s population -- currently 9.1 million -- going above 10 million before 2050. In a country where foreigners make up more than a quarter of the population, the proposal, if accepted, would slam the brakes on immigration. “There has to be a limit,” retiree Gilles Hirt told AFP at a polling station in Bern Sunday morning, comparing the situation in Switzerland to a ship.