Swiss voters went to the polls on February 8 2009 in a key referendum  to decide whether Switzerland continues to allow unrestricted immigration from within the European Union, with media reports indicating that exit polls showed that the "yes" vote would prevail.

Although Switzerland is not a member of the EU, it has traditionally backed the principle of the free influx of labour of workers from the EU.  In a reciprocal arrangement, about 400 000 Swiss migrants are allowed free access to the EU's labour market.  

Swiss president Hans Rudolf Merz has warned his countrymen that a "no" vote could jeopardise bilaterial ties with the EU. "Our country is opposed to (EU) membership but we recognise that we wouldn't be able to go it alone without ending up in complete isolation and we can't afford that," he said.

The plan to extend free movement of labour has been backed by the bulk of Switzerland's political, economic and business establishment, but polls show that ordinary Swiss voters are split down the middle on the issue. In a survey at the end of January, just 50 per cent supported the motion as opposed to 43 per cent who rejected it and seven per cent who were undecided. This represents a sharp decline from the 67 per cent who supported free movement in a similar referendum nine years ago.

The main opponent of free movement of labour is the right-wing Swiss People's Party. The party's campaign poster depicts ravenous crows pecking away at the Swiss flag. The party also refers to Bulgaria and Romania as "Europe's third world". Hans Fehr, an MP for the Swiss People's Party, said that the atmosphere had changed considerably since the last vote on the issue and that the influx of large numbers of workers from Romania and Bulgaria could undercut home grown salaries . "Now we are in a recession that could be very hard for Swiss business people. It is important for them to have cheap workers and Swiss workers could lose their jobs as a result."

However, Bulgaria's former ambassador to Brussels and Bern, Lea Cohen, said that a "no" vote would be "Switzerland's loss" and said that Bulgaria was not an EU country with a particularly high crime rate. She also cited the number of Bulgarian workers in Switzerland (thought to be about 1000) as proof that Switzerland was not a favoured country for Bulgarian immigrants. Cohen said that Spain and the UK are more popular destinations. She  expressed dismay at the populist nature of the campaign conducted by the the Swiss People's Party and described their poster as in poor taste.