Belarus I. Introduction and summary On 16March 2022, the Swiss Federal Council, in view of Belarus’ involvement in Russia’s warfare in Ukraine, decided to adopt in full the extended sanctions against Belarus introduced by the EU on 2 and 9 March 2022. For this purpose, the Swiss Federal Council has approved the complete revision of the Ordinance on Measures against Belarus, which entered into force on 16 March 2022, at noon(the “Ordinance”). The newly adopted measures…
As a result of Russia’s ongoing military intervention in Ukraine, the Swiss Federal Council has implemented a complete revision of the Ordinance on Measures connected with the Situation in Ukraine, thereby adopting further packages of European Union sanctions against Russia. These new measures entered into force at 6 pm on 4 March. In doing so, Switzerland’s measures will align with those imposed by the EU. Going forwards, the Federal Council will autonomously decide to adopt further…
In view of Russia’s continuing military intervention in Ukraine, the Swiss Federal Council at an extraordinary meeting on 28 February took the decision to adopt the packages of sanctions imposed by the EU on 23 and 25 February, respectively. Switzerland will implement the sanctions in coordination with the EU and, as previously, will examine each further package of sanctions imposed by the EU on a case-by-case basis. The Swiss Finance Minister also announced that Switzerland…
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…