Social issues

A trip to Moscow – in the service of people’s diplomacy

by Anita Meyenberger

(20 February 2026) The Eurasia Association invited “upright Swiss citizens” to Moscow on a dialogue trip for peace to engage in diplomacy from a citizen’s perspective. On 24 January, the participants met at Kloten Airport near Zurich to begin their journey. Tickets from “Turkish Airlines” for the flight via Istanbul to Moscow, an electronic visa for Russia, hotel reservations and a metro card provided the material requirements for the trip – the participants felt the costs were worth it. Roubles could only be purchased in Moscow.
Greece

“Exodos” – Panhellenic movement against digital totalitarianism

(6 February 2026) (CH-S) A movement against “digital totalitarianism” has formed in Greece. “Exodos” opposes mandatory digital identity with the aim of preserving human dignity. The founding declaration, which is also available in English, warns of the danger that digitalisation will not only destroy fundamental democratic rights, but also undermine the substance of human coexistence.

“Undeclared martial law in the EU”

Banishment of critical journalists traces back to NATO

by Norbert Häring,* Germany

(30 January 20269 (CH-S) The Swiss administration’s barely audible sympathy for the fate of Swiss citizen Jacques Baud after EU sanctions were imposed on him, the misguided statement in the “Allgemeine Schweizerische Militärzeitschrift” (ASMZ) on this case, and finally the borderline statements made by Federal Councillor Pfister on freedom of expression at the Swiss Media’s Epiphany Conference on 8 January, were initially attributed to the power centre in Brussels.

Nathalie Yamb explains what it means to be on a sanctions list

Sanctioned by the EU, abandoned by Switzerland

(23 January 2026) (CH-S) Several EU citizens have already been sanctioned by the European Commission. Two Swiss citizens have also been sanctioned: Jacques Baud – about whom “Swiss Standpoint” has already reported several times – and Nathalie Yamb. Ms Yamb was born in La Chaux-de-Fonds in the Neuchâtel Jura and has dual Swiss and Cameroonian citizenship. For years, she has been campaigning for the sovereignty of African states. In this context, she criticises France’s influence in its former colonies.

The EU protects itself – from democracy

by Gudula Walterskirchen*

Elon Musk recently criticised the current EU system as a bureaucracy, not a democracy. The European Commission, for its part, has initiated a “shield for democracy” that is intended to guarantee fundamental democratic values and the rule of law. But what about respect for the rule of law and democratic principles within the EU itself? Is Musk right?

Information is like a trickle of pure water

Fortunately, there are journalists, media outlets, and networks outside the mainstream

by Guy Mettan,* Geneva

(19 December 2025) In the context of the cognitive warfare that we Westerners have been living in for about ten years, information has become a weapon of mass destruction. Or rather, a weapon of massive deception.

In a world where journalists are increasingly disappearing in favour of “information designers”, it is not surprising that information today is produced, formatted, packaged, and distributed like a pack of artificial ham in the supermarket. Even if the ham originally came from a real pig made of flesh and bone, the end product no longer has much to do with the raw material. From its colour to its consistency, not to mention its taste, there is nothing natural about it anymore. It has become completely artificial. The wonders of packaging and marketing do the rest: at the end of the chain, the consumer is left paying for a largely adulterated product.