Swiss politicians and media have expressed condemnation and shock over the mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando in which a gunman opened fire, killing at least 50 people and wounding dozens.
“Switzerland condemns in the strongest terms the terrorist acts that struck Orlando yesterday, and extends its sincere condolences to the families and relatives of the victims of this tragedy,” said Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter on Monday, speaking at the opening of the Human Rights Council’s June session in Geneva.
“We must continue our fight and prevent terrorism in order to defend our citizens and our freedoms,” he added.
Many Swiss newspapers drew parallels between Sunday’s attack on the gay club in Orlando – the worst mass shooting in mode US history – and that at Paris’s Bataclan concert hall in November, when 89 people were killed. Islamic State have claimed responsibility for both massacres.
“These comparisons are necessary in order to understand the scope and consequences of the Orlando bloodbath. ‘Orlando’ will soon become a symbol for the ever-present threat posed by attackers and how in need of protection American citizens are,” wrote the Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ).
“In particular, looking ahead to the presidential elections in November, Sunday should represent a watershed, with a ‘before’ and ‘after’ in America. Commentators have been saying for ages that a serious attack would have a massive influence on the outcome of the election.”
The NZZ noted that Republican candidate Donald Trump could benefit most from the attack. “After the attack in San Beardino in Califoia, Trump called for a blanket ban on all Muslims entering the United States. The current case shows how pointless that would be: the attacker was an American citizen.”
The paper concluded that it might be tempting to believe that simple solutions exist to complex problems such as radicalised citizens, “but challenges like that require sophisticated answers and, possibly, patience. The coming months will show whether Americans are ready for that”.
‘Incompatible worlds’
The Blick newspaper agreed that, like the Bataclan, the Orlando nightclub had been selected intentionally.
“Joie de vivre, hedonism, exuberance, equal treatment whatever your gender, origin, beliefs – that embodies everything that misanthropes detest. For us, it embodies everything that makes us who we are: a liberal society that stipulates where necessary and makes diversity possible,” it wrote.
“These worlds are incompatible. The massacre of Orlando tragically reminds us of our dilemma: in the struggle against militant intolerance in the name of Allah, we have to defend our values without giving them up. The other side doesn’t have this problem: they bring death; they idolise death.”
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