European Council Chief Welcomes Results Of Swiss Labor Migration Referendum

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th September, 2020) European Council President Charles Michel welcomed on Sunday the outcomes of the referendum in Switzerland where citizens voted not to curb the free movement of people to and from the European Union.

According to preliminary results, around 62 percent of voters chose not to scrap Switzerland's 1999 free movement agreement with the EU.

"Today is a great day for the relations between the European Union and Switzerland. We welcome the results of the popular vote and look forward to continuing our close cooperation. The Swiss people have spoken & sent a clear message: together we have a great future ahead of us," Michel said on Twitter.

Many compared the Swiss referendum to Brexit, fearing the economic consequences of ending the free labor migration between the EU and Switzerland, as proposed by rightist Swiss People's Party, would be grave, especially amid the uneasy aftermath of COVID-19.

At present, Switzerland is obliged to accept workers from EU countries. There was another Swiss referendum in 2014 where voters chose to introduce quotas on the number of immigrants from the bloc, but the parliament ended up codifying a much softer version of this decision, instead greenlighting Swiss companies to prioritize local residents when hiring.