Too Annoying Even for Switzerland

Nancy Holten, a 42-year-old Dutch woman, has lived in Switzerland for over 30 years and has twice applied for Swiss citizenship. Her applications have been twice rejected, apparently because she is an annoying animal-rights activist who is a little too vocal for Swiss sensibilities.

“Shortly before [the applications] she had begun to fight against various Swiss values such as church bells, cowbells, livestock farming, hunting, pig racing, eating meat, circus animals, mouse-catching, giving out milk at school, etc. She did this above all in the media,” Urs Treier, a spokesman for the municipal council, told CNN.

(In Holten’s defense, a 2014 study found that cowbells can damage the hearing and feeding habits of alpine cows.)

Treier said the rejection was “on the basis that a person who sets themselves against so many of Switzerland’s shared values, practices and traditions, and does this in person, directly and above all, loudly, in the press, should not be granted citizenship.”

Holten lives in the northern municipality Gipf-Oberfrick, population 3,500.“Gipf-Oberfrick is rural and there are farmers and conservative residents here. They aren’t used to green topics being discussed so openly,” Holten told CNN. “As a vegan, I campaign publicly for animals. That annoys a lot of people.”

Holten is now appealing to the government of the canton of Aargau, which oversees Gipf-Oberfrick. Good luck. Keep talking.

Photo credit: Nancy Holten via CNN & Alzbeta / Shutterstock