Rocky road to Swiss citizenship: the majority of Swiss voters recently said 'no' to granting their second and third-generation foreign neighbours easy access to citizenship. But the real story behind the latest referendum seems to be the old political wall of division separating the French and German speaking landscape--the so-called 'Roestigraben'.

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Politics

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Rocky road to Swiss citizenship: the majority of Swiss voters recently said 'no' to granting their second and third-generation foreign neighbours easy access to citizenship. But the real story behind the latest referendum seems to be the old political wall of division separating the French and German speaking landscape--the so-called 'Roestigraben'.

In the wake of several years during which the politics of the French and German speaking Swiss people had seemed to tread along a more harmonious path, the recent national referendum of 26 September once again underscored the great divide that characterises the country's political course.

Not since 1992, when the people were faced with the decision of join...

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