Unsurprisingly, given the crisis in the eurozone, opinion polls today show the Swiss have little enthusiasm for Brussels: barely 11% say they would consider membership.
And now a new era of agonised decision-making may be approaching, because Brussels has told the Swiss government the EU is no longer interested in pursuing bilateral agreements.
At the time, there were about 20 passengers on board the aircraft, which was a regular passenger flight from Brussels to Zurich operated by Helvetic Airways on behalf of Swiss, Van der Cruysse said.
The sweep began Tuesday, when French police arrested one person and Swiss police arrested six others, said Anja Bijnens at the state prosecutor's office in Brussels.