The rightist Swiss People’s Party (SVP) triumphed in the country’s parliamentary elections Sunday, winning just under 30% of the vote for its vigorous stance against immigration. The right-leaning Liberal Party (FDP) also increased its share of parliamentary seats, Reuters reported, prompting analysts to talk of a Rechtsrutsch, or shift to the right, in the national political mood.
The SVP now controls 65 seats in the legislature — the highest of any party since the early 1960s.
Before the polls, Swiss voters listed immigration, integration and foreigners as their main concerns, the Associated Press says. Hundreds of thousands of refugees and migrants have poured into Europe this year and the SVP reflected anxieties over the influx in its campaigning, making pledges to tighten restrictions on who can enter and remain in the country — including not just asylum seekers but nationals from E.U. member states. (Switzerland is not an E.U. member.)
“The people are worried about mass migration to Europe,” the party’s leader Toni Brunner said in an interview on Swiss TV, according to Reuters.
Italian navy rescues asylum seekers traveling by boat off the coast of Africa on the Mediterranean, June 7, 2014. Massimo Sestini—PolarisA soldier using binoculars to spot boats carrying asylum seekers, June 2, 2014. Massimo Sestini—PolarisRefugees rescued off a boat and carried onto an Italian navy ship, June 7, 2014. Massimo Sestini—PolarisItalian navy rescues asylum seekers traveling by boat off the coast of Africa, June 7, 2014. Massimo Sestini—PolarisItalian soldier carries a Syrian child on a ship after the Italian navy rescued 443 Syrian asylum seekers off a fishing vessel, June 5, 2014. Massimo Sestini—PolarisAfrican asylum seekers rescued off boats and taken aboard an Italy navy ship, June 8, 2014. Massimo Sestini—PolarisAn empty dinghy with leftover lifesavers after the Italian navy rescued asylum seekers off the coast of Africa, June 7, 2014. Massimo Sestini—PolarisSyrian refugees sleeping on an Italian navy ship after being rescued from a fishing vessel carrying 443 Syrian asylum seekers, June 5, 2014. Massimo Sestini—PolarisSyrian refugees on an Italian navy ship after being rescued from a fishing vessel carrying 443 Syrian asylum seekers, June 5, 2014. Massimo Sestini—PolarisSyrian refugees sleeping on an Italian navy ship after being rescued from a fishing vessel carrying 443 Syrian asylum seekers, June 5, 2014. Massimo Sestini—PolarisAfrican asylum seekers rescued off boats and taken aboard an Italy navy ship, June 8, 2014. Massimo Sestini—PolarisAfrican refugees rescued by the Italian navy at night off a rubber dinghy, June 8, 2014. Massimo Sestini—PolarisAfrican asylum seekers rescued off boats and taken aboard an Italian navy ship, June 8, 2014. Massimo Sestini—PolarisAfrican asylum seekers on board a rescue craft dispatched from an Italian navy ship, June 7.Massimo Sestini—PolarisAfrica refugees on an Italian navy ship after being rescued at sea, June 8, 2014. Massimo Sestini—PolarisA mother and child on a Italian navy ship after being rescued from a fishing vessel carrying 443 Syrian asylum seekers, June 5, 2014. Massimo Sestini—PolarisAbandoned boats graveyard in Lampedusa, May 29, 2014. Massimo Sestini—Polaris
