Swiss vote to curb EU immigration

Swiss voters have narrowly backed curbs on immigration from the European Union in a nail-bitingly close referendum on Sunday, a polling agency said.

Claude Longchamp, head of the gfs.bern polling institute, told public broadcaster SRF that near-final results showed that between 50.5 and 50.9 percent of voters had backed the “Stop Mass Immigration” proposal.

With only a few results still to come from the Zurich region, there was no possibility of a loss for the Yes camp, he said.

The vote has been hailed in the United Kingdom where the leader of the eurosceptic called the Swiss decision, a “wise” one.

Nigel Farage, the head of the UK Independence Party, said Switzerland had stood up to “bullying” from Brussels and that it was “not a matter of race but of space.”

“This is wonderful news for national sovereignty and freedom lovers throughout Europe,” said Farage, who is a member of the European parliament (MEP).

“A wise and strong Switzerland has stood up to the bullying and threats of the unelected bureaucrats of Brussels.”

UKIP has led calls for similar calls for a cap on immigration, a touchy issue in Britain since Bulgarians and Romanians were given full rights on January 1 to free movement within the European Union.

Farage added: “It is a great thing to be welcomed that the Swiss people now have the freedom to decide the number and skill level of the people who they wish to invite to work or stay in their country.”

“It is not a matter of race but of space, of numbers and of skills,” he said.