Swiss citizenship unattractive for foreigners

In reference to warnings of mass naturalisations by the right-wing conservative Swiss People's Party (SVP), Valérie de Granffenried recalls that comparatively few foreigners take on Swiss citizenship: "The SVP is insinuating with its initiative that there are many naturalisations in Switzerland. ... But what they keep quiet is that today 850,000 foreigners could take on Swiss citizenship, but do not. This shows that having Swiss citizenship is not always seen as a good thing. ... What stops people? Prior citizenship of an EU member state, a ban on dual citizenship in their country of origin or the difficulty of fulfilling the conditions. Some say they are just too 'lazy' to take the necessary steps, others want to avoid military service or can get along very well as foreigners in Switzerland, a country they can identify with perfectly without committing one hundred percent. ... What the SVP does not say is that the rate of naturalisation among the foreign population is extremely low compared to other countries."

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