Swiss-EU relations challenged by eastern workers referendum

The economic downturn in Switzerland could mean that Swiss voters this weekend decide against allowing Bulgarian and Romanian workers access to their country, a move likely to lead to a freeze in EU-Swiss relations.

With foreigners representing 21 percent of the population and some 80,000 people settling in Switzerland last year, especially from Germany, many Swiss citizens have begun to believe that free movement of persons was more to the benefit of the EU than their own.

"Six m...