Swiss Review / February 2022 / No.1 5 Mailbag Priya Ragu conquers the music world Thank you for your article on Swiss/Tamil artist Priya Ragu. Every success story involving an immigrant to Switzerland or their children, whether refugee or not, is another step towards more tolerance in our society. Ms Ragu’s story is particularly interesting for us. RAOUL IMBACH, SWISS EMBASSY, SRI L ANKA Advancing the cause of music is always a good thing, whatever type it may be. You will realise your dream of having a music festival in Jaffna. Here’s to making the most of your opportunities! DIDIER MEHENNI , CRANS MONTANA , SWI TZERL AND This is very beautiful in the journey she is on, the music, the positive forwardmovement, and all the inclusiveness. Maywe all see and encourage themerits in each of us, and the common humanity we have that binds us beyond all other differences. LOUISE GOGEL, VERMONT, USA The Swiss arms industry is on the defensive Switzerland should think more about where it buys weapons for its own army and less about its arms exports. Switzerland’smilitary exports are somewhere between modest and insignificant. As you point out, Switzerland is not allowed to export arms to countries at war, or that occupy other countries and abuse human rights. But what about the arms imports? How can a supposedly neutral country like Switzerland buy Israeli drones and F-35 fighter jets from the US? And that’s not all, the F-35s technically remain under US control, although Switzerland has paid the full purchase price. WALTER GASSER, USA I’ve always found it immoral that Switzerland sells arms, even after the easing of the rules governing exports to countries experiencing civil war, and each time a popular vote rejects a more restrictive proposal, I tell myself that every voter is responsible for deaths in different countries throughout the world. It’s totally unacceptable for a neutral country. SERGE LEUBA , ALTEA , SPAIN The golden jackal appears in Switzerland Thank you for the great article. I always like to hear about a new type of animal appearing in Switzerland. It shows just how resilient some animals are.With somuch agricultural land and construction everywhere, there isn’t much left for the wildlife. Unnatural living space in new developments means the animals are losing their habitat. URSUL A DOUGHT Y, USA Switzerland’s paradoxical love affair with cash Once again, we see the needs of the Swiss Abroad being completely overlooked. It would have been helpful if our National Bank would have come to an agreement with banking institutions in other countries about taking over the noteswithdrawn from circulation. Many Swiss Abroad have not inconsiderable sums stashed away because Swiss banks dissolved their accounts. There are also other ways in whichmoney could be exchanged in any given country. It is both impossible and unreasonable to expect the Swiss Abroad to travel to Switzerland with their money. HANS PETER STEINER, MAKOTRASY, CZECH REPUBL IC Cash is freedom and independence. J IRI CETTL, SWI TZERL AND I read about the banknotes in “Swiss Review” on 15 December, but the banknoteswere recalled inApril. That wasn’t ideal.We still have some francs in cash, sowe canmakeminor purchases on arrival inZurich. But we haven’t been able to travel because of the Corona pandemic. LUTZ VENZL AFF IRVINE, CAL I FORNIA , USA IMPRINT: “Swiss Review”, the magazine for the Swiss Abroad, is in its 48th year of publication and is published in German, French, English and Spanish in 14 regional editions. It has a total circulation of 431,000, including 253,000 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: Marc Lettau (MUL), Editor-in-Chief; Stéphane Herzog (SH); Theodora Peter (TP); Susanne Wenger (SWE); Consular Directorate, Innovation and Partnerships, responsible for the “Notes from the Federal Palace” section. EDITORIAL ASSISTANT: Sandra Krebs TRANSLATION: SwissGlobal Language Services 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. Account: IBAN CH97 0079 0016 1294 4609 8 / KBBECH22 Email: revue@swisscommunity.org COPY DEADLINE for this edition: 8 December 2021 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 CHANGES TO DELIVERY: Please advise your local embassy or consulate. The editorial team cannot access your address and administrative data. Editor’s note: Some readers have expressed concern that their eighth-series banknotes are now worthless. That is not the case: they can still be exchanged at the Swiss National Bank and its agencies. See: revue.link/banknotes
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