Brussels, 26/03/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 26 March, the Swiss government decided, for the moment, not to adopt sanctions against Russia for its policy on Ukraine. Instead, Switzerland called for a “balance” to be found between international law and Swiss interests.
“The Federal Council has taken note of the sanctions planned by the European Union and the United States”, said the Swiss president, Didier Burkhalter, during a conference in Bern. “The position of our country is independent, outside the UN”, he said, stating that Switzerland has a legal basis on the embargoes which is founded on “international law and the interests of Switzerland”. “In this case [Ed: of Russia], the law and the interests play a role (…). A balance needs to be found”, he said.
Burkhalter stated that the “economic and financial interests” of Russia “are very big” in Switzerland, and he said that Switzerland “should rather mediate between the two” - a diplomatic role that Switzerland often takes in many issues as a result of its neutrality. In addition, Burkhalter said that the sanctions taken by the EU restricting the freedom of movement of certain Russian nationals would automatically be applied in Switzerland, given that Switzerland is part of the Schengen area. As regards the economic sanctions taken by the EU and the US, Burkhalter stated that the government did not want the Swiss financial centre to become a possible alternative for people targeted by sanctions. “We don't want any circumvention of the sanctions”, he said, adding that Bern was currently studying measures to take to avoid such a situation. He also condemned the annexation of Crimea by Russia.
Since the beginning of the Ukrainian crisis, Switzerland has taken several measures. While being careful to maintain dialogue with all the parties, at the end of February Switzerland blocked funds in the Swiss Confederation that possibly belonged to former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych and his close circle. Switzerland has also recently decided not to grant authorisation any longer for the export of war material to Russia, to postpone (with the members of the European Free Trade Association - EFTA) the negotiations for a free-trade agreement with Russia, and to renounce temporarily a training programme for Russian military. In 2014, Switzerland and Russia planned to celebrate 200 years of their diplomatic relations. As part of this, Burkhalter planned to visit Russia - but the date of his trip has not yet been decided. Most Russian oil and gas is negotiated in Geneva, and the presence of rich Russians in Switzerland has continued to grow in recent years. (LC)