The most popular party in Switzerland, the Swiss People’s Party (SVP), known for its agrarian roots and opposition to mass immigration, is set to pursue a referendum calling for the renegotiation of international treaties, or even their complete abandonment, if the Swiss population hits 10 million.The proposed referendum comes at a time when Europe increasingly faces environmental catastrop he, a housing crisis, and huge strains on public resources due to soaring immigration levels. Many European nations are among the most densely populated nations in the world and life in them is only expected to become more crowded in the near future unless dramatic action is taken. Switzerland is no exception.“Our country is cracking in every corner. We are going through the debacles of recent years. If we don’t intervene, we will be overtaken by events,” said Marcel Dettling, the SVP’s campaign manager.Dettling warns that economic migration remains high, especially from groups known for their difficulty integrating into Switzerland, a fact highlighted by Switzerland’s alarming prison population data.

“Today, there is very strong economic migration,” says Dettling. “Whoever has set foot in Switzerland will never leave the country. Migrants from Africa have welfare rates of 34 percent.”

The text for the referendum has also already been completed and would stipulate that Switzerland’s population should not exceed 10 million until 2050. After 2050, this limit could be slightly increased but only due to organic, surplus births, according to the Le Temps new outlet.SVP National Councilor Thomas Matter says he must sound a “red alert” over Switzerland’s rising population, adding that “this is the last moment when we can still change something for Switzerland.”“The migration figures are hair-raising,” he said. “In 2022, Switzerland had 200,000 more inhabitants, the population of the canton of Basel-City.”The country is already rapidly approaching 9 million residents. In 2022, 145,958 people arrived [another 54,000 added to the population were Swiss babies], raising the population to 8.89 million. It is now only a matter of time until the population hits 9 million.Over the past 20 years, Switzerland’s population has increased by 21 percent.“If Switzerland grows so strongly again over the next 20 years, everything will collapse,” said Matter, who serves as a national councilor. According to him, the country’s financial reserves for education, health and transport are exhausted….

Just like the country’s debt brake, the referendum would serve as a brake on immigration. The text stipulates that if certain population limits are reached, the government must take certain steps to inhibit population growth. For example, if Switzerland’s population reaches 9.5 million, the Swiss Federal Council will have to take steps with new laws to counteract this growth.

However, if the country reaches 10 million, the government must respond with “rigorous measures,” including the Federal Council abandoning international agreements, such as the UN migration pacts or EU treaties relating to free movement.”

It is important to note that Switzerland has featured a number of referendums on the topic of immigration in the past, including the famous 2014 referendum “against mass immigration,” which won with 50.3 percent of the vote. The SVP-backed referendum was designed to place strict quotas on immigration, but despite winning the vote, the referendum was more or less made toothless by the Swiss parliament.

Switzerland was threatened by the EU over any attempt to restrict free movement, with the EU warning Switzerland that any abandonment of free movement would have meant that all EU agreements became null and void, which would have presented severe economic consequences for the country.