Switzerland revives wartime bunkers amid heightened security concerns
Triggered by heightened security concerns following Russia's all-out war in Ukraine, the Swiss military is reconsidering the role of an estimated 8,000 bunkers scattered across the country, some dating back to 1886, and how to best modernise them.
Originally constructed to guard strategic locations, such as the Gotthard railway and Alpine passes, the system of bunkers became a key component of the Swiss National Redoubt, a network of fortifications designed to repel invasion during World War II and the Cold War.
While many bunkers were once fitted with advanced defence systems to shield against Soviet missile threats, their use declined after the Cold War. Budget cuts and changing defence priorities led to many of the sites being sold to civilians.
Buyers found surprising new uses for them, from cheese cellars and art galleries to data storage hubs and hotels. Some were even turned into high-security vaults for cryptocurrencies, such as the Swiss Fort Knox in Bern canton.
However, in 2023, the Swiss army halted all sales of these shelters, opting instead to assess how best to repurpose them. "We have to make use of what we've got," Swiss Army Chief Thomas Süssli told domestic media.
'The nature of military threats has changed. The bunkers are poorly placed and the weapons they contain will only last for another ten or twenty years,' he added.
For the army, the goal is to convert these bunkers into 'difficult-to-attack defence nodes' using cutting-edge technology, while ensuring the upgrades are cost-effective and require minimal staffing.
Aside from strengthening national defence, some cantons have also adapted civilian shelters into temporary accommodation for refugees.
According to local media, the Swiss Society for Technology and Armed Forces plans to host an 'innovation day' in mid-September, where more details will be unveiled and participants can pitch their ideas. "We're looking for ideas from all sectors, not just defence," the STA emphasised.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
LeMonde
an hour ago
- LeMonde
'The real villain of World War II': Winston Churchill is now a target of American revisionism
These are conversations that, until recently, remained confined to the corners of the internet – on forums like 4chan and Reddit, or obscure blogs often discussing pseudoscience and bodybuilding: Was Winston Churchill actually the true culprit behind World War II? Was he to blame for its millions of human losses? For the death camps themselves? Would Adolf Hitler have simply stopped at Poland if not for Churchill, that belligerent figure, declaring war on Germany? Recently, these ideas have taken on a much broader resonance in the United States. They now feature, for example, on The Joe Rogan Experience – the world's most listened-to podcast hosted by Joe Rogan – or on Tucker Carlson's platforms. Carlson, formerly a journalist at the conservative Fox News channel, is a pillar of the MAGA ("Make America Great Again") movement and hosts another hugely popular show, The Tucker Carlson Show, broadcast online. In September 2024, Carlson welcomed an "amateur historian," Darryl Cooper, the creator of the Martyr Made podcast. The day before the episode aired, Carlson wrote on X that Cooper was "the best and most honest popular historian in the United States." He added: "His latest project is the most forbidden of all: trying to understand World War Two." Trying to understand it from the German point of view, he might have added, as that is the essence of Cooper's "forbidden" project – as though historians had never considered that perspective before. This is the credo of pseudo-history: to attack an all-powerful orthodoxy, to challenge "myths" about World War II supposedly acecepted thoughtlessly by everyone else.
LeMonde
14 hours ago
- LeMonde
Qatargate: French investigators scrutinize FIFA's contracts
Did Qatar convince members of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association's (FIFA) executive commitee to vote in its favor on December 2, 2010, during the vote to awarding the right to host the 2022 World Cup, via a bonus, which was provided for prior to the vote and included in a television contract signed between FIFA and the Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera? French investigating judges Serge Tournaire and Virginie Tilmont have been conducting a judicial investigation into "corruption" amid the conditions by which Qatar, "a country rated the lowest technically among all candidates" by FIFA's inspection teams, secured the right to host the tournament. As part of the investigation, the judges have been conducting verification efforts to answer the question of corruption. In late 2022, they sent a judicial cooperation request to the Swiss authorities. The judges became intrigued when reading the contract between Al Jazeera Sports (now BeIN Sports) and FIFA, which was worth $400 million (€347 million) in total and was signed at the end of 2010. It includes a clause stating that "in the event that the 2022 competition is awarded to the State of Qatar, Al-Jazeera shall (...) pay to FIFA (...) the monetary amount of one hundred million United States dollars as a non-refundable contribution towards the costs of the host broadcast production."
Fashion Network
a day ago
- Fashion Network
Switzerland's US tariff blow threatens its go-it-alone approach
President Karin Keller-Sutter is traveling to Washington on Tuesday as she and her colleagues race to get Donald Trump to reconsider. They don't have much time, with the levies due to kick in on Thursday. Helene Budliger-Artieda, one of the chief negotiators for Switzerland, held a phone call with business representatives on Monday. She told them that Switzerland's main goal is to get the overall tariff number down, but didn't reveal any potential concessions it might make, according to people briefed on the call. Budliger also received a clear message from businesses: there's no substitute for the US market. While the Swiss try to figure out how to deal with Trump and the US, the episode has cast a new light on the country's relationship with the EU. That's long been a divisive issue, with arguments about trade and economic benefits clashing with concern about immigration and sovereignty. For the pro-EU voices, the chaotic back and forth with the US will give them fresh reason to push the benefits of ties with the bloc, particularly as it secured a far better 15% rate. 'This will undoubtedly strengthen the camp of those who argue that Switzerland needs to move closer to the EU,' said Rene Schwok, a professor of political science at the University of Geneva. 'Their argument is that the EU is a much more reliable partner than the US and China.' Keller-Sutter and her officials had expressed confidence right up until late last week that they'd secured a far better deal with the US. But it all fell apart at the end during a phone call with Trump. Critics say she didn't have anything to offer and came unprepared to the negotiation table. The US president sees his country's 39 billion dollar trade deficit with Switzerland as tantamount to theft, and didn't appreciate being told otherwise by Keller-Sutter. 'I don't believe that the US is a reliable partner under this presidency,' Andri Silberschmidt, a Liberal lawmaker and member of Keller-Sutter's party, told Bloomberg. 'As a small nation, we are dependent on reliable partners who abide by agreements.' Switzerland is in the midst of a separate debate on an agreement with the EU that it hammered out late last year and is due to go to a national vote. In a survey – conducted before Trump's self-declared Liberation Day announcement on tariffs — 47% of Swiss respondents were in favour, while 35% were against it. To be sure, Switzerland's low unemployment, low inflation economy is robust enough that it could withstand the 39% tariff hit. If pharmaceutical exports were included at the unchanged rate, this would translate to a hit of at least 0.7-percentage point hit to the economy, according to Hans Gersbach at KOF economic research institute in Zurich. If drug exports were excluded, the hit would be between 0.3 and 0.6 percentage points. That would be a harsh blow but not enough to tip the economy into recession. Still, that would jeopardise 'tens of thousands of jobs' in key manufacturing industries, said Stefan Brupbacher, director of trade group Swissmem. However Keller-Sutter's last-minute bid in Washington works out, the lesson for Switzerland is that it needs to realise it's not in the same league as the US, China or the EU but a small player. This may push the Swiss to reconsider the advantages of 'splendid isolation,' Kirkegaard said. 'When the elephants are dancing, the mice get trampled and that's a little bit of what's happened here.'
