As the UK marks the tenth anniversary of the referendum on whether to leave the EU, voters in Switzerland have just rejected a similar proposal dubbed the “Swiss Brexit”.
Citizens were asked whether to cap the country’s population below 10 million by 2050, with the campaign centering heavily on immigration and the debate drawing comparisons with Britain’s Brexit-era politics.
The proposal led by the right-wing Swiss People’s Party (SVP) would have forced Switzerland to abandon its free-movement agreement with the EU, had it passed.
Shorts
As with the Brexit vote, the results showed clear geographic divides, with urban areas tending to favour openness, while smaller towns and rural regions were more likely to back restrictions.
