It’s almost jubilant sentences that the Swiss embassy in Russia in their latest economic report wrote last year: The Swiss financial center enjoys “traditionally great popularity” with Russian banks, investors and savers. And: “Switzerland has been by far the most important destination for wealthy Russians worldwide for managing their assets for years.” And then, of course, there is commodities trading, in which Switzerland has a prominent role as a hub: about 80 percent of Russia’s commodities trading takes place via the Swiss financial services centers of Geneva, Zug, Lugano and Zurich, according to the report.
Even if it sometimes pretends that Switzerland is not a small, unimportant player in this conflict. It occupies a key position, especially among the Russian elite, who also head to the Alpine Republic for important medical procedures or like to spend their exclusive holidays in Geneva, Graubünden or the Bernese Oberland. The Confederation therefore has a number of levers in its hands with which it can hit the Russian rulers hard. And: She clearly named and condemned the Russian breach of international law, the attack on Ukraine.
It is all the more surprising that the Swiss government, the Federal Council, has decided against fully exploiting its potential. The “circumvention prevention measures” imposed by Switzerland after the occupation of Crimea in 2014 will be tightened – but the sanctions imposed by the EU on Wednesday will not be fully adopted. This means, among other things, that Switzerland, unlike its neighboring countries, will not freeze Russian assets – at least for the time being.
Ironically, with this breach of international law, Switzerland chooses a special path
Mind you: Most recently, 2.5 billion dollars a year flowed from Russian private individuals to Swiss accounts. And like the latest from the Süddeutsche Zeitung published Suisse Secrets have shown, Swiss banks do not always show the necessary diligence when it comes to checking potentially problematic customers and funds.
Of course, the EU sanctions can also be viewed critically and as insufficient. Nevertheless, Switzerland has made it clear with its special path that it would prefer to take a step back in this blatant violation of international law – while in other cases, Belarus or Syria for example, it has simply joined the EU. This is scandalous and, by the way, cannot be explained by Switzerland’s neutrality and possible role as a mediator.
The task now is to build up as much pressure as possible to stop violence and war crimes. The “channels of conversation” that Switzerland wants to keep open, which the Federal Council emphasized again on Friday, are of little interest. Instead, the sanctioned people can still withdraw their money from Switzerland and possibly put it into the war. The country should consider carefully whether its involvement in this war is appropriate.