Swiss voters appear to reject proposal to cap population at 10 million

submitted by Powderhorn to news 20 points | 1 comments https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jun/14/switzerland-referendum-population-cap-svp > Voters in Switzerland appeared on Sunday to have rejected an unprecedented far-right proposal to cap the country’s population at 10 million in a divisive referendum dubbed “the Swiss Brexit”. > > A projection by ⁠the national broadcaster SRF, which traditionally calls ​referendum votes, showed that about 55% of voters were against the proposal by the Swiss People’s party (SVP) and about 45% were in favour. > > A different outcome would have obliged the Swiss government to limit the population, currently 9.1 million, to 10 million by 2050, enacting tough restrictions on family reunification, residency permits and asylum if the number had reached 9.5 million before that date. > > Under the proposals, if the threshold of 10 million people was exceeded before 2050, the Swiss government would have been obliged to withdraw from the country’s free movement agreement with the EU – ending its access to the bloc’s single market. > > The SVP, which has the most seats in parliament, has for years fuelled anti-immigrant sentiment, especially concerning workers from neighbouring EU countries. > > The party had insisted that a so-called “sustainability initiative” was needed to address the increase in population, which it argued was putting pressure on Swiss infrastructure, housing, social programmes, natural resources and way of life.