Swiss Review 1/2020

Swiss Review / January 2020 / No.1 31 Tension between Berne and Colombo At the end of November, an employee of the Swiss embassy in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo was kidnapped and forced to reveal confidential information. The Swiss author- ities condemned the attack, labelling it “extremely serious and unacceptable”. The Sri Lankan government disputes the Swiss account of the events. Observers suspect that the incident may be connected to the flight of a high-ranking Sri Lankan official to Switzerland. (MUL) Cleaning service in outer space Switzerland is contributing 542million Swiss francs to the new five-year budget of the European Space Agency (ESA). By doing so, it is consolidating its role in space research. Switzerland is leading theway in several programmes, such as in the mission to locate space junk and bring down old satellites with controlled re-entry. (MUL) Reformed church supports “Marriage for All” In November, the delegates of the Federation of Swiss Prot- estant Churches voted overwhelmingly to back moves to allow homosexual couples to marry. Despite the decision, reformed pastors are still free to decidewhether theywish to marry same-sex couples, or not. The landmark decision supporting “Marriage for All” was also made against the backdrop of the Green Liberals’ parliamentary initiative: they are demanding that all couples be allowed to enter into legally regulated domestic partnerships – irrespective of their sex or sexual orientation. (MUL) Wind park fails due to landscape protection There will be no large parkwithwind turbines built in the canton of Grisons. The voters of the local municipality of Lugnez have rejected the plan to build 18 windmills, each more than 100 metres in height, around the 2,357-me- tre-high Um Su mountain. They submitted that it is more important to protect the Alpine landscape than to build an ecologically viable wind park. (MUL) Geneva airport: people want to have their say The Genevans want to have their democratic say in the fu- ture of Geneva airport. They voted overwhelmingly at the ballot box in favour of anchoring their right to co-deter- mination in the Geneva constitution. Under the new reg- ulations, not only economic aspects must be considered when developing the airport, but also environmental pro- tection and the quality of life of the local residents. Busi- ness circles vehemently opposed the change, but without success. (MUL) Martin Suter Martin Suter is once again able to celebrate his birthday on 29 Febru- arybecause 2020 is a leapyear. He alsohas every reason topop the cork on a bottle of champagne. The Zurich-born author, whowill soon turn 72, has been the highest-selling Swiss author internationally for more than twentyyears. His breakthroughcamewith thenovel “SmallWorld” in 1997. At that time, he was in his late forties; a late bloomer. Further well-known titles followed, including “The Dark Side of the Moon”. Suter also achieved success with the criminal series based around the dandifiedZurichdetective Allmen. “Allmen and theKoi”, the sixth vol- ume, landed directly in the top spot on the bestseller list last autumn. This has almost become a regular haunt for the author whose works have been translated and filmed many times. Before he became a full- time writer, Suter was a successful advertising creative director. This periodof his life affordedhiman insight into the boardroom, whichhe later skilfully debunked in newspaper columns that were as biting as they were humorous. He is an extremely disciplined writer, but Suter the intellectual is also a bon vivant. He likes to look stylish, have beau- tiful things, had a second residence on Ibiza, and currently lives inMar- rakesh. The “Süddeutsche Zeitung” has termed him “the very antithe- sis of the starving artist”. However, like other authors, he is concerned about the structural change afoot in publishing. Now Suter is experi- menting with a digital model. You can subscribe to reading material, videos and podcasts for six Swiss francs or five euros per month on his website www.martin-suter.com. “Less than the price of a latte mac- chiato”, he notes. He has also revived his “Business Class” column on- line. GlobalisedSwiss bankers andother exponents of topmanagement still provide himwith plenty of material. SUSANNE WENGER Top Pick News