At a time when the European border protection agency Frontex is at the heart of a storm with the resignation of its president Fabrice Leggeri, the Swiss—not members of the European Union but collaborators with the agency since 2011 and included in the Schengen area—voted on Sunday, May 15th, through a popular vote, on whether or not to continue support for this international institution.
More than two-thirds of voters—72%—voted in favour of increasing their contribution to the agency. Their refusal would have had serious repercussions on the overall functioning of the institution. Given the outcome of the vote, Switzerland’s Frontex contribution, which is proportional to its GDP, will rise from €23 million to nearly €60 million in 2027. This increase in the budget will notably allow for the deployment of 10,000 coastguards and border guards by 2027.
During the campaign, opponents of Frontex denounced the numerous human rights violations of which the agency was guilty, particularly under Leggeri’s presidency. “61 million Swiss francs for human rights violations? On 15 May, vote no to the expansion of Frontex,” was the message on their posters during the election campaign. Opposition was particularly strong from the Socialist Party, the Greens, and small left-wing groups. The NGO Amnesty International chose not to give any instructions on this election, considering that the provisions criticised by Frontex opponents did not directly concern the concrete conditions of migrants.
The government communicated that an increase in Frontex’s budget would allow for an increase in the number of observers to avoid human rights violations in the future.
The majority of the right-wing parties were in favour of supporting Frontex—including the Union démocratique du centre (UDC, or Schweizerische Volkspartei in German), which often campaigns against any agreement between Switzerland and the EU. A fraction of this party, however, argued for an exit from Frontex, with the aim of returning Switzerland to ‘autonomous’ border management.
For the government, which is in favour of Swiss involvement in the international agency, a rejection of Frontex at the ballot box would have called Switzerland’s presence in the Schengen area into question. “This cooperation is necessary and beneficial for Switzerland,” said Swiss Justice Minister Karin Keller-Sutter.
