Swiss Review 3/2018

24 Swiss Review / May 2018 / No.3 OSA news Seventy-four members of the Council of the Swiss Abroad (CSA)met in Berne for their spring meeting. Two issues were once again the centre of attention – e-voting and the attitude of the Swiss banks towards the Swiss Abroad. Shortly before theCSAmeeting, FranzGrüter, the SVP National Councillor from Lucerne and IT entrepreneur, had launched an initiative call- ing for a nationwide ban on e-voting which has since caused a stir amongst the Swiss Abroad too. Whilemore andmore cantons are endeavouring to meet the requirements to enable all citizens – including those abroad – to vote electronically, the initiative committee is seeking to put the brakes on this development. In Berne, Franz Grüter took part in a debate withClaudia Pletscher of Swiss Post, whichman- ages the e-voting system. “The question is not whether but when e-votingwill bemanipulated by hackers,” remarked Grüter. “I believe it’s ex- tremely important that we can have faith in ref- erendum and election results.” Many countries, such as France, Norway and Finland, have abol- ished e-voting again. “We also attach top prior- ity to security and trust. Swiss Post is therefore workingwith a systemwhere anymanipulation will be universally detectable,” responded Clau- dia Pletscher. “Thiswill enable us to verifywhere and how many votes have been manipulated.” However, complete security against manipula- tion cannot be guaranteed. “The comparisons with other countries aremisleading. The systems that were hacked in the USA, for example, have nothing to do with our system. Online voting was not scrapped for security reasons in Finland.” After a lengthy debate on e-voting, Remo Gysin, the OSA president, and Filippo Lombardi, its vice-president, reported on the current state of play in relation to the Swiss banks. “We’re ap- proaching systemically important and public cantonal banks to engage them in in-depth talks,” said Gysin. “We’ve made some initial progress. The Banque cantonale de Genève has promised to reach out to the Swiss Abroad.” Council of States member Lombardi reported on the latest developments concerning political proposals on the issue and called for patience. “Little strokes fell big oaks,” summed up Tim Guldimann, the Council member and SP National Councillor. MARKO LEHTINEN Franz Grüter and Claudia Pletscher debating the risks of e-voting at the CSA meeting. Photo: OSA/Adrian Moser Focus remains on e-voting Meeting of the Council of the Swiss Abroad – 10 March 2018 at the City Hall in Berne Summer offers of the OSA Youth Service Language courses: This summer we are once again providing you with the opportunity to learn two of the four national languages on a beginners’ course or to improve your linguistic skills on our advanced courses. As well as the language lessons, you will also visit Swiss cities and experience the mountain landscape in an exciting programme of recreational activities. You will gain a close insight into Swiss culture in a welcoming host family. Don’t wait, register now! There are still places available on the following language courses: German course in Zurich, 9/7 to 20/7/2018 German course in Basel, 23/7 to 3/8/2018 French course in Fribourg, 9/7 to 20/7/2018 For further information and to register, visit www.aso.ch and www.swisscommunity.org or: Youth Service of the Organisation of the Swiss Abroad youth@aso.ch +41 31 356 61 00 www.facebook.com/ASOyouth Attractive offers from other Swiss youth organisations: Federal Youth Session (8 to 11/11/2018): www.jugendsession.ch Swiss Youth in Science (competition 2019): www.sjf.ch IMPRINT: “Swiss Review”, the magazine for the Swiss Abroad, is in its 44 th year of publication and is published in German, French, English and Spanish in 14 regional editions. It has a total circulation of 425,000, including 218,287 electronic copies. Regional news appears four times a year. The ordering parties are fully responsible for the content of advertisements and promotional inserts. This content does not necessarily represent the opinion of either the editorial office or the publisher. EDITORS: Marko Lehtinen (LEH), Editor-in-Chief; Stéphane Herzog (SH); Marc Lettau (MUL); Jürg Müller (JM); Simone Flubacher (SF), responsible for “news.admin.ch” , Relations with the Swiss Abroad, FDFA, 3003 Berne, Switzerland TRANSLATION: CLS Communication AG LAYOUT: Joseph Haas, Zürich PRINT: Vogt-Schild Druck AG, 4552 Derendingen POSTAL ADDRESS: Publisher, editorial office, advertising: Organisation of the Swiss Abroad, Alpenstrasse 26, 3006 Berne, Tel.: +41313566110, Fax: +41313566101, Postal account (Swiss National Giro): 30-6768-9. Email: revue@aso.ch COPY DEADLINE for this edition: 23.03.2018 All Swiss Abroad who are registered with a Swiss representation receive the magazine free of charge. Anyone else can subscribe to the magazine for an annual fee (Switzerland: CHF 30 / abroad: CHF 50). Subscribers are sent the magazine direct from Berne. www.revue.ch CHANGE OF ADDRESS: Please advise your local embassy or consulate. Do not write to the editorial office in Berne.