Pressure mounts for Switzerland to adopt sanctions against Russia

Pressure is mounting on Switzerland, a major financial center coveted by Russian oligarchs, to join more firmly in international sanctions imposed by Westerners on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

The pressure came first from the streets. On Saturday, between 10,000 and 20,000 people demonstrated in the capital, Bern, and thousands more in different cities to ask the Federal Council, the Swiss executive body, to get more involved.

“It is irresponsible that the Federal Council does not immediately freeze the billions held by Russia,” denounced Socialist Party co-president Cédric Wermuth.

The Greens party also calls for Russian oil and gas imports to be stopped and for the country to be excluded from Swift, the interbank connection system.

Also on Friday (25), Swiss President Ignazio Cassis made it clear that he wanted to maintain the path of moderation in relation to Moscow, even though the sanctions, which are based on those of the EU, have been tightened.

financial pariah

However, since Saturday night (26) the cards have been shuffled again. The European Commission, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States have announced unprecedented economic measures, turning Moscow into a financial “pariah”, according to a senior US official.

Several Swiss banks will no longer be able to access the Swift system, which facilitates the transfer of international funds, and the assets of the Russian central bank will be frozen, which will have significant economic consequences in the country. The G7 also decided to target the wealth of sanctioned oligarchs.

All these decisions cast a harsh light on how Switzerland will act, that its neutral status will not protect it from having to give an explanation.

According to the newspaper Blick am Sonntag, the seven members of the Federal Council will have an emergency meeting on Monday (28) and the debates could be intense. The meeting has not been officially confirmed.

The Ukrainian ambassador to Switzerland, Artem Rybchenko, called in the SonntagsZeitung newspaper for a freeze on the assets of members of the Russian government, as required by EU sanctions.

Russia is only Switzerland’s 23rd trading partner, but the country’s banks are among the favorites of Russian fortunes. And several Russian oligarchs also have interests in large Swiss companies.

Furthermore, 80% of Russian oil and gas deals take place in Switzerland, according to estimates cited in the country’s press.