Swiss Populist Leader Blocher: 'We Are a Sovereign Country'

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http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/interview-with-swiss-populist-leader-christoph-blocher-a-953956.html



In a SPIEGEL interview, Christoph Blocher, the leader of the right-wing populist Swiss People's Party discusses the success of his recent campaign in a referendum against "mass migration" and Switzerland's future relationship with the EU.

Swiss Populist Leader Blocher: 'We Are a Sovereign Country'
Interview Conducted by Björn Hengst and Samiha Shafy
February 17, 2014 – 04:31 PM

Christoph Blocher, 73, is Switzerland's most controversial politician. The billionaire entrepreneur transformed the Swiss People's Party (SWP) into a right-wing populist organization that campaigns against the European Union, immigration and Islam. It was Blocher, educated as a lawyer, who led the successful campaign against Switzerland joining the European Economic Area in 1992. From 2004 to 2007, he served as a member of the government before getting voted out of office. He remains a leader in Swiss politics and recently financed the campaign against "mass immigration" to the tune of 3 million francs (€2.45 million).

SPIEGEL interviewed Blocher in the wake of the Feb. 9 referendum in Switzerland in which 50.3 percent of voters cast ballots in favor of capping immigration from the EU.

SPIEGEL: Mr. Blocher, after the referendum you said that the European Union would be the supplicant in coming negotiations with Switzerland. Are you suffering from delusions of grandeur?

Blocher: Excuse me, but just take a look at reality. The EU wants Switzerland to bring its tax laws into line. Second, it wants us to expand the taxation on interest on bank accounts belonging to EU citizens. Third, they want us to become so institutionally interconnected that Switzerland would have to automatically adopt European laws in the future. And then they want us to allow the European Court of Justice to decide on treaty disputes. These things are all in the EU's interest. If the EU now threatens to cut off bilateral relations, then it can do so. That wouldn't cause Switzerland to go down.