Right-wing extremism in Switzerland

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Right-wing extremism in Switzerland is mostly associated with violent right-wing extremist skinheads ; In Switzerland, other groups are often referred to as national or right-wing conservative. In contrast to Germany, Switzerland does not see itself as a contentious democracy . High hurdles are therefore placed on the observation of right-wing extremist groups by the Swiss state security agencies. The pursuit of anti-constitutional goals is not enough for observation - in addition, violence must be perpetrated, advocated or accepted. The legal framework for obtaining information is regulated by the Federal Law on Measures to Safeguard Internal Security (BWIS). In Switzerland, analogous to the reports on the protection of the constitution in Germany and Austria, the Federal Council annually submits an Internal Security Report to Switzerland . This is created by the Federal Intelligence Service (NDB) and contains information about right-wing extremist efforts.

According to the Tages-Anzeiger , according to estimates by the NDB, there are “a total of 300 to 400 right-wing extremists willing to use violence, of whom roughly one in four is actually violent”. The groups Blood & Honor and Combat 18, which are active in German-speaking Switzerland, are particularly prone to violence.

meaning

Particular attention is paid to the connection between the Swiss political system and the specific manifestations of political extremism . Sophie Guggenberger argues that the triad of direct democracy , federalism and concordance democracy in Switzerland makes the emergence of extremist tendencies more difficult. The parties are constantly under pressure to deal with extreme issues. The established parties are thus forced to remain programmatic vigilance, flexibility and adaptivity. In addition, direct democracy develops a pedagogical compulsion to deal with. The potentially high chance of being heard politically goes hand in hand with the moderation of political demands. Articulation leads to discussion and thus stimulates learning processes, which contributes to integration and moderation. Self-reinforcing interactions between dogmatism and political extremism, as a result of social isolation and political abstinence, are deprived of the foundation. Political powerlessness experiences are thus prevented. Extremist endeavors that continuously work on the margins are therefore rather rare.

Historical right-wing extremist parties in Switzerland are the National Front (1933–1940), the Federal Collection (1940–1943) and the Republican Movement (1971–1990). In 2000 the nationalist and right-wing extremist National Orientated Swiss Party (PNOS) was founded. It is on the verge of legality and had two seats in the local parliaments of Langenthal and Günsberg . The National Action, founded in 1961, and the Republicans united in 1990 to form the Swiss Democrats . Since 2000, they have lost large parts of their electorate to the Swiss People's Party (SVP). In 2007 they lost their last National Council seat with a share of 0.5 percent of the vote. In addition, the Auto Party , the National Initiative Switzerland (NIS), the National Party Switzerland (NPS), Cercle Thulé , the National Coordination and the Lega dei Ticinesi are associated with right-wing extremism.

Among the most famous Holocaust deniers in Switzerland are Gaston-Armand Amaudruz , Jürgen Graf and Bernhard Schaub .

history

James Schwarzenbach was the first right-wing populist Swiss politician. Since the end of the 1960s, he first worked in the National Action against Foreign Immigration of People and Homeland (NA). The high point of his work was the first Schwarzenbach initiative of the 1970s. This called for the limitation of immigration to Switzerland, which fueled fear of " foreign infiltration " and created a xenophobic mood. The popular initiative narrowly failed. Schwarzenbach then founded the Republican Movement in 1971 , which became meaningless when Schwarzenbach left the party in 1978. The only politician to the right of NA who was elected to a Swiss parliament after 1945 was Eric Weber from Basel in 1984 . "Apart from this exception, the rule applies that if one obviously sympathizes with Hitler and Nazism, it is tantamount to political suicide." The SVP served as a catchment basin for the scattered supporters from NA.

Marcel Strebel gained nationwide fame after spitting on a dark-skinned woman on the television program Zischtigsclub on August 22, 1989 .

In 1995 right-wing Hammerskins attacked the Festival for Friendship of Nations in Hochdorf . Several people were injured and property damage of 17,000 francs was caused. There is traditionally a strong right-wing extremist scene in French-speaking western Switzerland . This regularly organizes concerts to which neo-Nazis from neighboring countries, mainly Germany, come. In March 1998, a concert organized by Hammerskins with over 800 spectators could take place with reference to the traditionally highly valued freedom of assembly. On the other hand, the cantonal government banned a concert by the Blood and Honor movement planned for the end of 1998 on Lake Geneva , to which over 1500 spectators were expected, because of violations of the Swiss anti-racism law.

In 2001 the murder of 19-year-old Marcel von Allmen attracted media attention. He had been killed with an iron bar by former schoolmates. The background was the breach of a vow of silence by the right-wing extremist "Order of the Aryan Knights". The four perpetrators were found guilty of murder and attempted murder.

The Rütlischwur one of the founding myths of Switzerland , which is why every 1st August the Swiss National Day , on the Rütli -Wiese an official event is performed. This event has been regularly disrupted by right-wing extremists since 1996 who try to occupy the symbol of national identity in the media. The clashes of 2000 and 2005 are high points, with right-wing extremists booing the main speakers from the audience.

Current developments

Swiss democracy is not currently seriously threatened by any right-wing extremist group. In 2005 the Swiss Federal Police estimated that around 1200 people and another 800 “interested sympathizers” belonged to the Swiss right-wing extremist scene. It registered 111 right-wing extremist "incidents" from this group.

Activities by neo-Nazis are directed against foreigners, politically dissenters, homosexuals as well as homeless people and drug users who discriminate against them as " anti-social ". Recently, the skater scene has come more and more into the field of vision of the neo-Nazis despite its apolitical orientation.

As in other European countries, a “normalization” of right-wing extremist discourse can be seen in Switzerland. However, the discourse is not only taken up by marginalized groups, but also by established parties. The SVP plays an ambivalent role in this. With 29.4 percent of the vote (October 2015), the SVP is currently the party with the largest number of voters in Switzerland. Despite clear distancing from right-wing extremism, individual party members are repeatedly accused of promoting right-wing extremist ideas and connections to right-wing extremist organizations. These include Ulrich Schlüer and Hans Fehr in Zurich, Emil Rahm in Schaffhausen, Pascal Junod in Geneva and Dominique Baettig and Jean-Jacques Kottelat in the Jura. The SVP is also accused of having a particularly pronounced populism in European comparison, despite broad popular support. Since the 1990s, the SVP has seen an influx of members from the Auto Party and the Swiss Democrats , who shifted the party's political orientation in favor of the Zurich wing around Christoph Blocher . He advocated a change in the party's political style. The right-wing populist course is characterized by aggressive advertising campaigns. For example, campaigns were repeatedly launched on foreigner issues that were criticized in and outside Switzerland as being xenophobic and anti-minority as well as nationalistic. Above all, the “ deportation initiative ” and the associated Schäfchenplakat campaign in 2007, with which the SVP, in agreement with right-wing extremist parties, demanded the expulsion of foreign criminals and their families, was criticized as racist and aroused international outrage.

In 2016, the Federal Intelligence Service counted 23 violent crimes.

See also

Portal: right-wing extremism  - overview of Wikipedia content on right-wing extremism

literature

  • Damir Skenderovic: The Radical Right in Switzerland. Continuity and Change. 1945-2000 . Berghahn Books, New York NY 2009, ISBN 978-1-84545-580-4 .
  • Linards Udris: Right-Wing Extremism in Public Communication. Increased chances of resonance and difficult handling . In: Medienheft , June 25, 2007 ( full text , PDF , 197 kB).
  • Linards Udris, Patrik Ettinger, Kurt Imhof : Right-wing extremism and the public in Switzerland. A research report . Federal Agency for Civic Education 2007 ( full text ).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Sophie Guggenberger: Country portrait: Switzerland . In: Yearbook Extremism & Democracy 17, 2005, pp. 195–217.
  2. ^ Kurt Pelda: The banned neo-Nazi group is also active in Switzerland. In: tagesanzeiger.ch. January 23, 2020, accessed January 26, 2020 .
  3. ^ Sophie Guggenberger: Country portrait: Switzerland . In: Jahrbuch Extremismus & Demokratie 17, 2005, pp. 195–217, here pp. 210–214.
  4. ^ Sophie Guggenberger: Country portrait: Switzerland . In: Jahrbuch Extremismus & Demokratie 17, 2005, pp. 195–217, here p. 199.
  5. ^ Hans Stutz: Gaston-Armand Amaudruz condemned. Jüdische Rundschau, April 13, 2000, archived from the original on October 25, 2007 .;
  6. ↑ Jens Renner: Fear of Switzerland. Right-wing populism. Weekly, July 8, 2004, archived from the original on August 2, 2008 .;
  7. ↑ a b Jürg Frischknecht : Of black sheep. Goodbye to the Schwarzenbach generation. In: The weekly newspaper . December 6, 2007.
  8. ↑ Jürg Frischknecht : Right-wing radicals in Switzerland - weirdo or spearhead? In: New ways . Vol. 83 (1989), H. 9, pp. 257-265, here p. 264 ( online ).
  9. ↑ Martin Beglinger: The Unbelievable , in: Weltwoche 05/2002.
  10. ↑ Hans Stutz: Loyal Aryans. Von Allmen murder. Between SVP and swastika: the political orientation of the members of the "Order of the Aryan Knights". Weekly newspaper, March 18, 2004, archived from the original on October 23, 2007 .;
  11. ↑ Hans Stutz: Myth with a march. Weekly, July 13, 2006, archived from the original on August 2, 2008 .;
  12. ↑ Report on Internal Security in Switzerland 2001. ( PDF , 175 kB) Federal Office of Police, July 2002 .;
  13. ↑ Swiss National Fund for the Promotion of Scientific Research (ed.): Right-wing extremism in public: How the media and right-wing extremists benefit from each other . Press release, Bern, May 14, 2007. See Sandro Cattacin et al: Monitoring misanthropy and rightwing extremist attitudes in Switzerland. An explorative study . Geneva 2006, ISBN 978-2-940386-00-0 ( PDF , 1.74 MB).
  14. ^ Hanspeter Kriesi et al: The Politics of New Social Movements in Western Europe. A Comparative Analysis . Minneapolis 1995; see. Sophie Guggenberger: Country portrait: Switzerland . In: Jahrbuch Extremismus & Demokratie 17, 2005, pp. 195–217, here p. 198.
  15. ^ Sophie Guggenberger: Country portrait: Switzerland . In: Jahrbuch Extremismus & Demokratie 17, 2005, pp. 195–217, here p. 198.
  16. ^ Paul Vallely: Switzerland: Europe's heart of darkness? ( Memento of July 4, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) In: Independent Europe, September 7, 2007.
  17. ↑ The Swiss and his "negro" ( Memento of 9 March 2010 at the Internet Archive ) argument with Andrew Katumba and Ulrich Schlüer, printed in the Sunday view -Beilage & her on January 21, 2007
  18. ^ SVP and right-wing extremism ( memento of October 10, 2011 in the Internet Archive ), Foundation against Racism and Anti-Semitism, Assessment of the Situation 2000
  19. ↑ Hans Stutz: Blocher's zealous admirers . In: weekly newspaper, October 7, 1999.
  20. ↑ Hans Stutz: It's an honor for me. The Jurassic SVP National Council recently appeared at a right-wing extremist congress in France. Baettig has a far-right past that he doesn't want to remember. A search for clues. WOZ, December 10, 2009, accessed December 8, 2010 .
  21. ↑ See Neue Zürcher Zeitung on Sunday , December 8, 2002, p. 26.
  22. ↑ Oliver Geden: "We against the others": The SVP's recipe for success . In: NZZ am Sonntag , September 9, 2007, p. 21 ( PDF , 135 kB).
  23. ↑ Antisemitism Worldwide 2000-1 Switzerland. Stephen Roth Institute, 2001, archived from the original on April 21, 2002 (report on anti-Semitism in Switzerland).;
  24. ↑ Holger Gertz : The Silence of the Schäfli - Election Campaign in Switzerland ( Memento from October 22, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung, October 19, 2007.
  25. ↑ A series of left-wing extremist violence shakes Basel , NZZ, September 8, 2017