© KEYSTONE / EPA / Mateusz Marek
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki on Monday urged Switzerland to freeze the accounts and confiscate the financial assets of Russian oligarchs in Switzerland. He asked Federal Councilor Ignazio Cassis to address this issue in a determined way.
Speaking to the media in Warsaw alongside visiting Confederation President Ignazio Cassis, Morawiecki said the EU “will discuss new sanctions once morest Moscow in Brussels in a few days at the European Council”.
“We know that the first measures have already hit Russia hard economically,” he added. “But we must do much more”, according to remarks reported in particular by the Italian press agency Ansa. “Switzerland, Poland and the EU are ready for a post-war reconstruction plan” in Ukraine, the Prime Minister noted once more.
And to underline: “the bank accounts of the Russian oligarchs in Switzerland must be frozen and their assets confiscated. I asked the president (Mr. Cassis) that Switzerland tackle this question with determination”.
“Generosity to export”
Also taking the floor, Ignazio Cassis explained that Switzerland “as a neutral country might not export weapons, but might export almost everything else, starting with generosity and solidarity”.
Mr. Morawiecki once more thanked Ignazio Cassis for his willingness to “work on new sanctions packages and to provide humanitarian aid where Poland is on the front line”.
The President of the Confederation is spending two days in Poland and Moldova, Monday and Tuesday, to assess the humanitarian situation on the ground, with the influx of Ukrainian refugees following the invasion of Russian troops.
500 tons of aid
On Twitter, the head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) expressed his gratitude for the excellent cooperation with Poland which enabled the installation of the Swiss humanitarian aid transshipment center in Lublin, to which he also returned on Monday before visiting a refugee center. Switzerland has already supplied around 500 tonnes of relief goods to the Lublin hub.
On Tuesday, the Swiss president will head for the Moldovan capital Chisinau to meet his counterpart Maia Sandu. Discussions will focus on how Switzerland can help Moldova in the face of this crisis.
Mr. Cassis is accompanied by the Chairman of the Foreign Policy Commission of the National Council Franz Grüter (UDC / LU), the National Councilor Edith Graf-Litscher (SP / TG), the Delegate for Humanitarian Aid and Head of the Swiss Corps humanitarian aid worker Manuel Bessler and the Swiss ambassador to Ukraine and Moldova Claude Wild.