The Swiss President and the State Secretary for Foreign Affairs held a media conference yesterday which left all observers confused and received mostly criticism from Swiss Parliament. The President started by stating that yesterday was a dark day for Europe and diplomacy had failed. The Russian Ambassador had again been summoned and informed about Switzerland’s unequivocal condemnation of this inacceptable massive violation of international law (namely the principles of non-violence and territorial integrity). The President…
The Swiss Federal Council has discussed the situation in eastern Ukraine at its meeting of 23 February 2022. It condemns Russia’s recognition of the two non-government-controlled territories of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions as independent states as a violation of international law. While the Swiss government has not decided on adopting any sanctions or measures yet, it has stated that it wishes to ensure that Switzerland will not be used as a platform to circumvent…
On 20 December 2021, taking effect at 6pm CET, Switzerland amended its lists of sanctioned parties (Annexes 7, parties subject to financial sanctions, and 8, parties subject to financial restrictions), namely by adding 17 individuals and 11 entities and organizations to Annex 7. These are the same individuals and entities as listed under EU sanctions on 2 December (see our related blog post here). Among the entities added are Belavia Belarusian Airlines, State Production Association…
On August 9, 2021, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada significantly escalated sanctions against Belarus in a multilateral effort to put pressure on the current Lukashenko regime. These sanctions were announced on the first anniversary of the fraudulent elections held in Belarus on August 9, 2020 and follow a series of previous measures against Belarus, including most recently the coordinated measures between the UK, US, Canada and the EU in June (see our…