RUSSIA TODAY
You Tube
The EU has threatened to review all bilateral agreements with Switzerland if Bern goes all the way and blocks immigrant inflow. On Sunday Swiss voters narrowly approved the return of strict quotas for immigrants from within the EU.
After a 50.4 percent majority of Swiss voters approved the return of quotas for citizens of EU-member countries, Brussels is striking back with harsh rhetoric of its top officials.
“This is a turning point, a change of system with far-reaching consequences for Switzerland,” Switzerland’s justice minister, Simonetta Sommaruga, told reporters in Bern.
Europe produced an acerbic response to the Swiss people’s decision: “One thing is clear: you can’t take advantage of a big European internal market and stay outside [regarding] other questions at the same time. This is what we have to discuss with Switzerland now,” slammed Martin Schulz, president of the European Parliament.
Switzerland is not free to revoke agreements with the EU at will, said Schulz.
“For us, EU-Swiss relations come as a package,” echoed Schulz’s colleague, EU MP Hannes Swoboda. “If Switzerland suspends immigration from the EU, it will not be able to count on all the economic and trade benefits it is currently enjoying. We will not allow … cherry-picking.”
Schulz went as far as saying that there will be renegotiation of the free movement contract that could result in return of bilateral border controls that “could affect the Swiss population and their free movement in the EU as well,” said the official, who also called on to stay level-headed.
Russia Today for more