Swiss referendum backs nationalists' call for limits on immigration

GENEVA - Voters in Switzerland on Sunday narrowly backed a plan to limit immigration, in a blow for the government after it had warned that the measure could harm the Swiss economy and relations with the European Union.

Swiss public television SRF reported that some 50.3 per cent of voters backed a proposal by the nationalist People's Party to introduce quotas for all types of immigrants. About 49.7 per cent voted against the plan. The difference between the two sides was fewer than 30,000 votes, with a turnout of about 56 per cent.