On Monday February 28, the Swiss Federal Council announced that Bern would align itself with all European sanctions and freeze Russian assets in Switzerland. A historic decision for the Swiss state, which has always claimed its neutrality in armed conflicts.
As the Geneva daily explains from the outset The weather, “the decision was under increasing pressure, both within the country and within the European Union”.
On Monday, February 28, the Federal Council, that is to say the executive body of the country, finally gave in: Switzerland will align itself with the EU sanctions once morest Russia. A historic decision for a country which has made neutrality the major axis of its international policy.
Because even if it is not a question of going to war or even of delivering arms to Ukraine (as other European countries have done), Switzerland is an important place in world finance and this decision will have concrete implications for the Kremlin. These are detailed by the French-speaking media:
The fortunes of those placed under European sanctions are frozen with immediate effect, the financial sanctions once morest Vladimir Putin, Sergey Lavrov (Minister of Foreign Affairs) and Mikhail Mishustin (Prime Minister) are fully resumed, and Swiss airspace has been closed to all Russian planes since 3 p.m.
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