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Obama made bin Laden a martyr – Swiss minister

Swiss Defence Minister Ueli Maurer has criticised President Barack Obama's announcement of Osama bin Laden's killing, claiming in a press interview on Sunday that it raised the Al-Qaeda leader's status.

Published: 9 May 2011 12:33 CEST

“It is problematic for me when a president announces this news. That way he raises a terrorist to the same level as himself,” Maurer was quoted as saying in an interview with the Swiss newspaper Der Sonntag.

“That really turns bin Laden into a martyr,” he added, saying that the death should have been announced by a spokesman or in written form.

Maurer, a member of the hard right Swiss People’s Party, claimed the announcement was good for Obama’s election campaign but elevated a terrorist organisation to virtually the same level as the most powerful state in the world.

“A US President should not announce that,” he said, warning that it would motivate terror groups to fight on.

Obama announced in a nationwide television address late Sunday that bin Laden was killed by US special forces in a raid on a hideout in Pakistan.

The United States had been hunting for the mastermind of the September 11 attacks by hijacked airliners on the World Trade Centre in New York and the Pentagon, which killed 3,000 people, for a decade.

World leaders have welcomed the news of bin Laden’s killing but warned of the possibility of reprisal attacks.

What are Switzerland’s top priorities for the coming year?

On Wednesday September 18th, president Viola Amherd unveiled the Federal Council’s goals for 2025.

“In 2025, the focus will be on bilateral relations with the European Union, social policy, and continuing reforms in the healthcare sector,” the Federal Council announced in a press release.

All these issues are likely to have at least some impact on Switzerland’s population, including foreign residents.

Let’s have a closer look at these priorities.

EU-Swiss relations

After Bern walked out of its negotiations with Brussels in May 2021, and following a nearly three-year ‘cooling off’ period, the two parties resumed their talks in March of 2024.

The currently on-going negotiations aim, according to the European Commission, “at ensuring a level playing field for competition between EU and Swiss companies operating within the EU internal market and guarantee the protection of the rights of EU citizens working in Switzerland, including non-discrimination between citizens of different Member States.”

So if you are a citizen of any European Union state, the outcome of these talks will impact you — hopefully in a positive way.

Social policy

This will relate to the country’s state pension scheme /AHV / AVS), which includes the funding and implementation in 2026 of the 13th pension — a move that will affect both the retired and the still active workforce.

READ ALSO: How much will the 13th pension payment in Switzerland cost you?

Healthcare reforms

This is not a new issue for Switzerland — on the contrary, the government has been trying cut the soaring costs of the health system for years.

The challenge it has is to curb the spending without cutting — or scraping altogether — various benefits currently covered by the obligatory health insurance scheme.

No concrete results that are acceptable to everyone have yet been found, so the Federal Council will continue this task in 2025.

These are the main challenges the government will tackle next year, but it has listed other ‘to-do’ tasks as well

They are:

To “sustainably secure its prosperity and seize the opportunities offered by digital technology”
To promote national and intergenerational cohesion
To ensure security, working towards peace and acting consistently and reliably internationally
To protect the climate and care for natural resources

Also on next year’s government agenda: to decide whether to further extend the special ‘S’ refugee status for people from Ukraine, which expires in March 2026.

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