Net immigration to Switzerland from the European Union has fallen to its lowest level for 12 years, continuing a steady decline in immigration from nearby countries.
Nearly 6,480 more EU citizens settled in Switzerland than departed between April and June, according to data released on Monday by the State Secretariat for Migration, the lowest since the second quarter of 2005.
Switzerland and Indonesia launched an economic cooperation and development strategy for the 2017-2020 period on Friday, renewing the European country’s commitment to support economic development in the archipelago for the next four years. The offer was launched during Schneider-Ammann’s two-day visit to Indonesia.
Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung said that the two countries saw a sizable bilateral trade improvement in the past three years at 238 percent.
The EU recommended on Wednesday that three times bailed-out Greece has made enough progress in balancing its budget to be removed from special oversight of government spending.
The move is a further boost for Athens days after it secured a fresh tranche of cash from its latest bailout to meet crucial debt payments and avoid a fresh crisis.
Sweden is the Best Country to be an Immigrant, according to new analysis from U.S. News & World Report. Canada, Switzerland, Australia and Germany round out the top five. Part of the Best Countries report, the new ranking assesses the international perceptions of 80 countries, their immigration policies and economic data.
Eric Gertler, co-chairman of U.S. News and the New York Daily News, said that the experience of creating the best countries ranking showed them that many people view immigration as the most important issue in the world.
Japan and the European Union agreed on a free trade pact on Thursday to create the world’s biggest open economic area and signal resistance to what they see as U.S. President Donald Trump’s protectionist turn.
Concluded in Brussels on the eve of meetings with Trump at a summit in Hamburg, the "political agreement" between two economies accounting for a third of global GDP is heavy with symbolism. The deal will rival the size of NAFTA, the free trade accord that the US has with Canada and Mexico – currently the largest one in the world.
The International Monetary Fund, a key creditor in Greece’s bailout, will not participate in any further rescues of the debt-wracked country, Germany’s finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told a Greek newspaper today.
“We have all acknowledged (eurozone and IMF) that the third Greek (bailout) payment will be the last with the participation of the IMF,” Schaeuble told Greek daily Ta Nea.
Talks about a new treaty governing the European Union’s relationship with Switzerland have collapsed over the same issue bedevilling Brexit – the European Court of Justice.
Switzerland, which is not a member of the EU, has more than 100 bilateral agreements with Brussels overseeing ties including transport, trade and education, but the EU is demanding a single framework treaty.
A new treaty could clear the way for closer ties in fields including financial services and power markets, but fear that any deal might upset Swiss voters under the country’s system of direct democracy has put the project on hold.
Panama announced it would break ties with Taiwan and enter into a diplomatic relationship with China Tuesday. The move is a huge coup for China, and signals increasing pressure on the Taiwanese authorities to bend to Beijing’s “one China” policy. Taiwan has strongly condemned the Panamanian decision as “oppressive,” and fueled by “money diplomacy.”
The move was announced by Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela. After decades of siding with Taiwan in the disagreement, a joint statement said: “The Government of the Republic of Panama recognizes that there is but one China in the world, that the Government of the People’s Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China, and that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory.”
