In the land of slowness, ” better late than never ” to take “a major decision that will mark a milestone in the history of Swiss neutrality”, commented the editorialists, without dwelling too much on the pressure exerted from all sides on the Swiss executive. While he had been dragging his feet since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and annoyance was mounting both inside the country (demonstrations in Bern and Geneva on Saturday February 26) and abroad. Externally, the Federal Council (government) announced on Monday that it was finally taking over all European Union (EU) sanctions against Russia and that it was going to freeze the assets of those targeted. A real revolution, since the Alpine nation had preferred to refrain from taking such measures in 2014 after the annexation of Crimea. She then invoked her neutrality and her position as a potential mediator, always ready to offer her “good offices”.
During a rather solemn press conference in the presence of four of the seven federal councillors, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Ignazio Cassis, also President of the Confederation for the current year, explained that “Playing the game of an aggressor is not neutral. As a signatory State and depositary of the Geneva Convention, we are required to respect humanitarian law and we cannot remain spectators when it is trampled on”.
playground
While countries such as Sweden and Finland, also neutral but members of the EU, now send arms to Ukraine to defend themselves, the change in doctrine in Switzerland is explained primarily by a desire to avoid a brutal image damage. “The government has clearly admitted that a position of strict neutrality would no longer be understood by its European neighbors and by a large part of the international community,” notes Jean-Marc Rickli, director of the global risks department at the Geneva Center for Security Policy. The legalistic interpretation of this neutrality had also provoked much gnashing of teeth in the left and right parties. The waiting position of the Federal Council had become untenable. On the Swiss political spectrum, only the populist hard-right party UDC opposed sanctions.
The decision is not trivial. For three decades, the Russian oligarchs have found in Switzerland all the services they need to transform their rubles into safe investments or hide them in complex offshore structures. Private bankers, lawyers, notaries, tax experts, real estate agents and brokers take great care of a clientele that has gradually taken on as much importance as that of the Gulf, which has been used for a long time. Many solutions, few questions asked about the origin of the funds, legendary discretion, and luxurious private colleges for the offspring. The Russians have made Geneva one of their favorite playgrounds in Europe, just like London, which has become “Londongrad”.
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