German Chancellor Angela Merkel has warned against rushing to punish Switzerland for its vote to curb immigration.

“Our talks were in the spirit that we obviously respect it,” said Merkel, after a metting with Swiss president Didier Burkhalter in Berlin, referring to the referendum outcome. “In my view, the challenge will now be that we deal with the result in a way that relations between the European Union and Switzerland remain as intense as possible”, she said.

On his part Burkhalter criticised the EU for halting talks on education and research cooperation.

Earlier in February Swiss voters, by a slender margin, called on the government to re-introduce quotas, even for workers from EU countries.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!