Published on June 11, 2024 at 05:31.
“A totally unnecessary gesture.” Nicolas Walder’s judgment is final when discussing the declaration of protest by the Council of States against the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) against Switzerland for failure to fulfill its obligations in the field of climate policy last April.
This declaration, widely accepted by senators, is on the program of the National Council on Wednesday of the third week. At the center of the controversy, the following sentence: “Switzerland therefore sees no reason to take further action on the Court’s judgment of April 9, 2024, given that its past and current efforts in terms of climate policy fulfill the human rights requirements set out in the judgment.”
Nicolas Walder fears for the country’s reputation: “This is an extremely harmful gesture for Switzerland. Switzerland has an image of a responsible country, a country that thinks before speaking. This gesticulation can only damage our reputation.” He also refuses to see in the ECtHR judgment a decision against citizens: “No, it is not the judges against the people… It is a European convention of human rights to which Switzerland has freely decided to join.” Rather, he sees it as a good example of separation of powers.
Switzerland criticized because the Bürgenstock bothers it
Member of the Foreign Policy Commission (CPE) of the National Council, Nicolas Walder will closely follow the High-Level Conference on Peace in Ukraine, at Bürgenstock in the canton of Nidwalden. He welcomes the holding of this conference: “I think that Switzerland is fully in its role and fortunately it does,” and adds that “the work of Swiss diplomacy must be praised.”
Asked about the criticism addressed to Switzerland, notably by Russia, and the absence of China, the ecologist is hardly worried about it, quite the contrary: “Today, I have not heard any criticism of ‘no other country apart from Russia and one or two of its lackey countries, that is to say North Korea, Belarus and then Syria… Personally, the criticisms that we can receive from Mr. Putin , Bashar al-Assad or Kim Jong-un don’t really touch me. And I think that if they criticize us, it is perhaps that this Bürgenstock conference bothers them, because indeed if Turkey comes, if South Africa comes, if Colombia comes, it will bring together more of country.”
Call to Pierre-Yves Maillard for more moderation
Another issue that Nicolas Walder follows closely: that of the negotiations between Switzerland and the European Union (EU). The negotiations began on March 18, and in the corridors of the federal Bern, it is said that the discussions are not easy: “It is possible that things will get complicated. I hope this is just a temporary complication. I have always said that the problem was on Switzerland’s domestic front, because there are indeed concessions to be accepted in the face of 27 countries which have defined common rules.
On the employer side, he would welcome “a minimum wage in Switzerland” to “give certain guarantees” in terms of worker protection. But Nicolas Walder also launches an appeal to the left: “I actually also call on Pierre-Yves Maillard to have a slightly more moderate speech, above all much less critical on Europe”, because there will be a vote on the Europe and “if we denigrate Europe too much, we will not be able to win. »
What he fears above all is a slow erosion, real but without major rupture: “I would compare it to the frog that you plunge into cold water, and you turn on the hot water. “She’s not going to realize it,” and when the amphibian realizes that he’s in bad shape, it will be too late.
Nemo: from Eurovision to the Federal Palace
To conclude, the Nemo phenomenon was also discussed. Nicolas Walder does not hide his admiration for the artist from Bienne: “I find that not only is he an excellent artist who gave a magnificent performance, of which we can be proud, but in addition, the comments he made and his commitment made us even more proud.”
Concretely, on a political level, this involves the discussion on the establishment of a third gender or the abandonment of the mention of sex in the civil status register. In December 2022, the Federal Council estimated in a report that “the principle of the binary of the sexes remains deeply anchored in Swiss society… The social conditions necessary for the establishment of a third sex or the abandonment of the mention of the sex in the civil status register are not currently combined.”
For Nicolas Walder, we must reopen this debate: “We are in the same debate as with marriage for all. We were also told for decades that this would call into question order in Switzerland… Today, a majority of the population has understood that the fact that I was able to marry my husband did not take anything away from my heterosexual friends.” And he wants to be reassuring: “Having a neutral gender would in no way harm (the situation) of people who strongly identify with one of the two genders.”
