Schengen: Ja!

The votes have been counted, and much to my surprise, Swiss voters approved both referendums that were at the polls today. This means that, despite not being a member of the EU, Switzerland will join the EU's passport-free Schengen zone. Of course this won't take place until 2007, and we won't be living here anymore at that point, so I'll continue to have to show my passport when driving into neighboring France or Germany. I'm also pleasantly suprised that Swiss voters approved (by 58 percent) a measure to increase certain rights for same-sex couples. One more surprise-- this is currently posted as the top story on the AP wire! It's not very often that Switzerland generates breaking news, and frankly I think they like it that way.