SWITZERLAND
Alias/Codeword = OCTOGON
From the shape created by drawing round the templar cross in their flag
Executive branch
chief of state: President of the Swiss Confederation Ueli MAURER (since 1 January 2019); Vice President Simonetta SOMMARUGA (since 1 January 2019);
note - the Federal Council, which is comprised of 7 federal councillors, constitutes the federal government of Switzerland;
council members rotate the 1-year term of federal president (chief of state and head of government)
SWITZERLAND CITIZENSHIP:
Citizenship laws are based upon the Swiss Citizenship Law dated September 29, 1952, amended in 1984 and 1990.
- BY BIRTH: Birth within the territory of Switzerland does not automatically confer citizenship. The exception is a child born to unknown parents.
- BY DESCENT:
- Child born in wedlock, at least one of whose parents is a citizen of Switzerland, regardless of the child’s country of birth.
- Child born out of wedlock, whose mother is a Swiss citizen, regardless of the child’s country of birth.
- Child born abroad to Swiss parents must be registered before the age of 22 or the child will not be a citizen of Switzerland.
- BY NATURALIZATION Swiss citizenship may be acquired upon fulfillment of the following conditions:
- Person has resided a total of 12 years in Switzerland, three of which within the last five years prior to application.
- The twelve-year requirement is adjusted if the time during which the applicant lived in Switzerland was between the ages of 10 and 20; in this case, time counts double as does the time during which the person lived in Switzerland while married to a person who is Swiss by birth.
- Person is integrated into Swiss life, and is knowledgeable of its customs and laws.
- Person is not a threat to the security of Switzerland.
- A foreigner, after marrying a Swiss citizen, can apply for a simplified naturalization if they have lived in Switzerland for a total of five years, have lived in Switzerland for the most recent one year, and lived with the Swiss spouse for at least three years.
Swiss law provides for exceptions to these requirements in situations of blood ties to Swiss citizens, Swiss military service, and adoption by Swiss citizens.
SWITZERLAND DUAL CITIZENSHIP: RECOGNIZED.
SWITZERLAND LOSS OF CITIZENSHIP: If one parent decides to renounce Swiss citizenship, their spouse and all children under 20 years of age must also renounce their citizenship. However, a foreign woman who gained Swiss citizenship through marriage does not lose her Swiss citizenship in the event of the termination of the marriage, if she entered the marriage in good faith.
- VOLUNTARY: Voluntary renunciation of Swiss citizenship is permitted by law. Upon request, a Swiss citizen will be released from Swiss citizenship if they do not have residence in Switzerland, are at least 18 years old, and have another nationality or have been assured of one. Contact the Swiss Embassy for details and proper paperwork.
- INVOLUNTARY: According to the Swiss Consulate, there are no “realistic” conditions for the involuntary loss of Swiss Citizenship. Therefore, Swiss citizens should not assume that the acquisition of a new citizenship would cause their Swiss citizenship to be removed by default.
Military service age and obligation:
19-26 years of age for male compulsory military service; 18 years of age for voluntary male and female military service; every Swiss male has to serve at least 260 days in the armed forces; conscripts receive 18 weeks of mandatory training, followed by seven 3-week intermittent recalls for training during the next 10 years (2012)
Switzerland
The country known for its "neutrality "has a very strict code on insulting foreign heads of state. In Article 296 of its penal code concerning ‘Offences Detrimental to Foreign Policy’ it states:
“Any person who publicly insults a foreign state in the person of its head of state, the members of its government, its diplomatic representatives, its official delegates to a diplomatic conference taking place in Switzerland, or one of its official representatives to an international organisation or department thereof based or sitting in Switzerland is liable to a custodial sentence not exceeding three years or to a monetary penalty.”
Nuclear Bunker Law
To this day, every home in Switzerland has to have a nuclear bunker, or at least access to one.
The law was introduced in 1963 to ensure all Swiss residents have protection against a nuclear attack.
The law seems to reinforce Switzerland’s determined belief that it can protect itself.
For instance, the Swiss still teach their school children that the reason the Nazis didn’t invade them in WW2 was due to their superior mountain tactics, and not the Nazi money stored in their bank vaults.
The country still has over 270,000 bunkers capable of accommodating the entire Swiss population of 7.8 million. Some places even have the luxury of choice for those who don’t get along.
Switzerland used children as cheap farm labour until VERY recently
Thousands of people in Switzerland who were forced into child labour are demanding compensation for their stolen childhoods. Since the 1850s hundreds of thousands of Swiss children were taken from their parents and sent to farms to work - a practice that continued well into the 20th Century.(1980)