Twenty-First Century Populism: The Spectre of Western European ...

104 Twenty-First Century Populism
The AUNS/ASIN (Action for an Independent
and Neutral Switzerland)
AUNS, until recently led by the same Christoph Blocher who, as we will see,
has been fundamental to the SVP/UDC’s process of radicalization, brings
together politicians of both Left and Right, and, importantly, economic
organizations as well. This is not a political party, therefore, but a singleissue
movement. Founded in 1986, it is now the most successful of all
anti-EU Swiss organizations, although it is by no means the only one. AUNS
now has over 46,000 members, a solid organization and enjoys access to
more financial resources than many Swiss parties. The movement opposes
Swiss participation in all international organizations, institutions and alliances,
from the EU to the United Nations (UN), from NATO to the IMF. It also
defends the Sonderfall (Switzerland’s ‘special case’), which is seen threatened
by processes of economic and cultural globalization.
The first success of AUNS was the popular rejection in 1992 of entry into
the European Economic Area (EEA) (with a ‘no’ vote of 50.3 per cent and a
clear majority of cantons), on a very high turnout of 78.7 per cent, despite all
political parties, except the SVP/UDC, advocating a ‘yes’ vote. Interestingly,
the decision by the SVP/UDC to side with AUNS followed an internal struggle
between the party’s moderate and radical factions, eventually won by
the anti-EU Cristoph Blocher. The ‘no’ vote was particularly high in German
and Italian-speaking cantons, with the core opposition coming from conservative,
less-educated, rural voters who tend to support the SVP/UDC in
disproportionate numbers nowadays. Despite AUNS’ determination not to
be seen as dependent on a specific party, its good working relationship with
the SVP/UDC becomes apparent if one simply glances at the list of its top
activists.
There have been many more votes in recent years on the relationship
between Switzerland and the EU (as well as other international organizations).
In 1994, for instance, the people rejected the proposal to contribute
forces to the UN blue-helmets, while in 2001 a popular initiative launched
in favour of immediate negotiations on EU entry was heavily defeated by a
76.8 per cent margin − with the opposition again being led by AUNS. It is
true that, on that occasion, AUNS also benefited from a temporary alliance
with those who opposed the timing of entry, but not necessarily the principle
itself, however again in 2002 the organization came very close to denying
the necessary cantonal majority in the referendum on UN entry, despite
most of the Establishment being, again, in favour. Admittedly, the battles by
AUNS, the LDT and the SVP/UDC ‘against’ the EU have not always been
successful. For instance, an initiative by the LDT demanding a popular vote
before any kind of negotiations with the EU could even start, was rejected in
1997. However, the hyper-activism of anti-EU parties and organizations has
pushed the issues of Swiss independence, freedom and neutrality to the very