Seven out of ten Swiss said “yes” on Sunday to increased support from Bern to Frontex. For the press, this vote marks above all the attachment to Schengen. On the other hand, it is not a blank check for the European institution, which will have to reform.
The vote on Frontex shows that the Swiss are attached to the Schengen area, from which Switzerland risked being excluded in the event of a refusal. Such a scenario undoubtedly frightened many citizens when they slipped their ballot into the ballot box, writes La Liberté.
The population knows that it owes freedom of travel within the European space and security to this agreement. The risk of losing Schengen was therefore too great, also underline 24 hours and the Tribune de Genève. The people did not want to “take the risk that Switzerland would be excluded from this crucial collaboration, on an issue as global as migration”, abounds Le Temps.
Europe that protects
Le Courrier, which deplores the “yes to fortress Europe”, notes for its part that “government propaganda has carried. The Federal Council has used and abused a ploy consisting of misleadingly amalgamating Frontex and the Schengen area”.
The only consolation for the Lemanic newspaper, this vote is “a disavowal of the extreme right udecist who fought Frontex in the name of an identity withdrawal on the national redoubt”. And to add that this vote is also that of a rapprochement with the EU.
“The Europe that protects is not unpopular,” observes Blick Romand. However, he warns those who would like to see in “this victory of” yes “to a question of cooperation with the European Union a domino of the institutional puzzle”, stressing that the vote on Sunday was above all a vote of efficiency.
And to conclude that the lesson of the polls is clear: “to be approved tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, a future institutional agreement with the EU must, above all, demonstrate that it protects Switzerland”.
Reforms needed
While the Swiss voted overwhelmingly in favor of strengthening Frontex, the institution’s reform needs nonetheless remain. Even if they did it too virulently by asserting that “Frontex kills”, the referendums “put their finger on justified criticism made of a European agency whose budget has grown exponentially”, notes Le Temps. And to add that Switzerland must now participate in the reform of Frontex.
La Liberté also stresses the need for the institution to “reform in depth to regain its credibility”. The Friborg newspaper also insists on the role of Switzerland, “which must now assume its responsibilities by playing a clear role in the matter”.
The Courier hopes for its part that the promises of the Federal Council, which assured that support for Frontex will be coupled with a desire for reform, “will not remain a dead letter”.
In addition to the need for reform, 24 hours and the Tribune de Genève point to an “institutional malaise” that this vote cannot hide: “Switzerland must extend the money to make Frontex work, but the sovereign cannot express criticism without risking harm. It is a problem”.
“A clear signal”
Across Sarine, the Tages-Anzeiger points the finger at the dishonesty of the left which “said no hoping that the yes wins”. He adds that the extent of the approval of the Swiss may surprise, especially since embezzlement by the European agency has been revealed in the middle of the campaign. The majority of voters seem to have attached more importance to the risk of Switzerland’s exclusion from the Schengen area, he concludes.
“Switzerland sends a clear signal in terms of security policy,” says the NZZ. And to add that “Frontex is not synonymous with an alleged fortress Europe with inhuman watchdogs”. Its development strengthens the protection of human rights at the EU’s external border. In view of past mistakes, Frontex must however improve and the “yes” of the Swiss is also “a mandate to take a closer look”.
For Blick, it is right for Switzerland to participate in the development of Frontex if it wants to take advantage of the free movement and security offered by Schengen. But the more Frontex gets bigger and its budget goes up, the more its responsibility increases, he adds.