**In 1994 the Federal Council (pictured here from l. to r., Arnold Koller, Otto Stich and Flavio Cotti) suffered a few setbacks in referendums.** Swiss National Museum / ASL

Outwardly open, inwardly closed

The degree to which Swiss domestic and foreign policy are intertwined has seldom become so apparent as in 1994. That year, the electorate repeatedly opposed the Federal Council’s pursuit of international openness.

Thomas Bürgisser

Thomas Bürgisser is a historian at the Diplomatic Documents of Switzerland (Dodis) research centre.

The ‘no’ vote on 6 December 1992 to joining the European Economic Area (EEA) proved not to be an aberration. 1994 was the year the Federal Council realised that the international slant of its policies faced strong systematic resistance. The first bombshell came on 20 February when the electorate unexpectedly approved the Alps Initiative against the federal government’s recommendation. Implementation of the new article in the Swiss constitution designed to protect the alpine regions from transit traffic called the Land Transport Agreement with the European Union (EU) into question and weakened Switzerland’s negotiating position with regard to the problematic transport dossier. The outcome of the referendum cast doubt on Switzerland’s reliability as a partner in the eyes of Europe. Brussels promptly called a temporary halt to the groundwork being laid for negotiations on bilateral sectoral agreements, which Switzerland hoped to conclude with the EU as compensation for not joining the EEA. The Federal Council had once again been thwarted by its own people.

TV report on the 1994 Alpine Initiative. YouTube

The situation became even clearer on 12 June. All three proposals put forward by the federal government failed at the ballot box. The articles on promoting culture and simplifying the naturalisation procedure for young foreigners were both rejected by the electorate and cantons alike. The most resounding defeat was the 57% ‘no’ vote against the Federal Act on deploying Swiss troops in peacekeeping operations. This meant that no Swiss battalion of Blue Helmets could be made available to the UN. But the ‘no’ vote also appeared to question the direction taken by the Federal Council in its attempts to further open Swiss foreign and security policy in general.

The results of these three referendums left the Federal Council facing a general loss of trust and confidence. A crisis meeting was called, at which members of the government went on record as saying that the country was divided. According to Federal Councillor and Head of the Department of Foreign Affairs Flavio Cotti, the political system in Switzerland now confronted a new kind of opposition, embodied by the biggest winner of the EEA referendum, Zurich SVP politician and member of the National Council Christoph Blocher, and his “erosive power”. Cotti defiantly stated for the record that: “The worst thing we could do would be to give up, admit that Blocher is right and capitulate in our foreign policy efforts.”

**Swiss Blue Helmets? The Federal Council said ‘yes’, the people said ‘no’.** Swiss National Museum / ASL

Switzerland’s international relations were also threatened by far right attacks on its asylum policy. Xenophobic rallying cries stoked the public debate about abuses of the refugee system and about asylum and immigration in general. If adopted, the popular initiative “for a sensible asylum policy”, launched by nationalist political party the Swiss Democrats in1990, would have forced Switzerland to turn its back on the principle of non-refoulement, which ensures that a refugee is not deported to a country in which they will face persecution. Switzerland had already signed up to this norm in various international conventions.

In November 1994, Swiss Federal Councillor and Justice Minister Arnold Koller therefore recommended to the Council of States Political Institutions Committee that the initiative should not be put to a national referendum. In the event of such a “complete departure from our country’s humanitarian tradition,” in the words of Arnold Koller, “we would cease to be a state based on the rule of law, and would find ourselves isolated internationally.” For the first time ever, the Federal Council wished to declare a popular initiative invalid due to its incompatibility with Switzerland’s commitments under international law. The Swiss parliament followed this recommendation in March 1996. To placate those expressing criticism, Federal Councillor Koller based his argument on the fact that asylum figures had fallen since the initiative was first submitted, and promised that the government would enact new coercive measures for deporting criminal asylum-seekers and foreign nationals.

Arnold Koller and the Federal Council get their way: the Swiss Democrats’ Asylum Initiative was declared invalid. Front page of the Thuner Tagblatt newspaper of 24 June 1994. — Arnold Koller and the Federal Council get their way: the u003cemu003eSwiss Democratsu003c/emu003e’ Asylum Initiative was declared invalid. Front page of the u003cemu003eThuner Tagblattu003c/emu003e newspaper of 24 June 1994. e-newspaperarchives

Finally, Switzerland’s accession to the United Nations Anti-Racism Convention became a political hot potato. The transposition of the UN provisions into Swiss law necessitated changes to its Criminal Code, and a referendum was called opposing the introduction of the new article. During the referendum campaign, the right-wing populist Freedom Party, the Lega dei Ticinesi and the Swiss Democrats warned that it would lead to unlawful restrictions on the freedom of expression and an undesired rapprochement with the UN. A topic like this provided ideal fodder for Arena, the political discussion show launched by public broadcaster Schweizer Fernsehen in the summer of 1993. The programme had quickly established itself as a key forum for debating both domestic and foreign policy issues in a way that held audience appeal.

At yet another meeting, the national government discussed whether and how members of the Federal Council should take part in this unusual new format. Transport Minister Adolf Ogi was still licking his wounds after his unfortunate appearance on the show dedicated to the Alps Initiative and Federal Councillor Kaspar Villiger – who had refused to participate in the Arena discussion on the Blue Helmets proposal – posed the fundamental question of whether members of the government should take part “in ringside battles with parliamentarians”. For Otto Stich, the incumbent Swiss President in 1994, “participation in adversarial broadcasts” was not a problem. He offered to step into the ring on 16 September and go toe to toe with the opponents. The unpretentious performance given on Arena by this seemingly strait-laced Social Democrat from the canton of Solothurn, who as Finance Minister championed a strict policy of cutbacks, may have helped the anti-racism penal provision (narrowly) gain acceptance.

Arena TV show broadcast in September 1994, featuring Federal Councillor Otto Stich (in German). SRF

In autumn 1994, the EU found the concept put forward by the Federal Council for implementing the Alps Initiative convincing enough to end its “pause for reflection” and recommence preparations for the bilateral negotiations. Alongside transport, the free movement of persons was by far the most delicate dossier as it touched on both domestic and foreign policy. EU member states such as Spain, Portugal and Italy had a particular interest in improving their citizens’ access to the Swiss labour market, the recognition of their qualifications and their entitlement to social insurance benefits. Moreover, Brussels viewed the free movement of persons as a major area in which it could balance the concessions it had made to Switzerland in other sectors. Were the Federal Council to prove intransigent, it would risk the negotiations being called off by the EU.

Conversely, the by now omnipresent Blocher had already threatened to call for a referendum if too many concessions were made in the agreement. The Swiss Trade Union Federation also put pressure on the government by issuing a letter in which it gave an ultimatum for accompanying measures to be put in place to ensure that the hoped-for liberalisation would not lead to wage and social dumping. When the Federal Council adopted its negotiation mandate in December, it was therefore forced to choose between “two evils”. Taking domestic policy into account, it ultimately decided to grant its negotiators only limited room for manoeuvre in certain sub-areas of the free movement of persons.

National Councillor Christoph Blocher put massive pressure on the federal government following victory in the EEA referendum. — **National Councillor Christoph Blocher put massive pressure on the federal government following victory in the u003cemu003eEEAu003c/emu003e referendum.** Swiss National Museum / ASL

In its report on Swiss foreign policy of the 1990s, approved in November 1993, the Federal Council acknowledged the need to make a radical break with the past following the “epoch-shaking upheavals that had taken place in eastern Europe” since 1989 and the end of the Cold War. Whether a matter of European integration, security policy, environmental issues, the economy, research, development or migration, the objectives set by the government categorically insisted that viable solutions could only be achieved through international cooperation. The report states that “the opening up of foreign policy is crucial in managing domestic problems”. However, 1994 was to reveal all too clearly that, as well as raising doubts about the direction of Switzerland’s foreign policy, the increasingly polarised nature of domestic policymaking, whipped up by the media, even seemed to be dictating foreign policy to a large degree.

New archival documents available online

On 1 January 2025, the Diplomatic Documents of Switzerland research centre published around 1,700 historical sources on Swiss foreign policy in 1994 in its online database Dodis – just as the relevant dossiers become declassified by the Swiss Federal Archives. The documents cited in the text are available online, along with numerous other records relating to Switzerland’s international relations.

More of: 20th / 21st century Politics

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