Football fans of the Swiss national team
The myth of neutral Switzerland wavers: aid to Ukraine under US pressure
“In Italy there were wars, murders and terror, but Michelangelo, Leonardo and the Renaissance emerged. In Switzerland there was nothing but brotherly love, but in 500 years of quiet living what came out? The cuckoo clock”. The famous and obviously unfair and ungenerous statement made by the character played by Orson Welles in the film “The Third Man” he once again embodied the historical neutrality of Switzerland, which seemed to have been eternal even in the era of the Cold War.
Instead the growing polarization ei warlike winds blowing between the West and Russia, but above all between the United States and Russia (with China in this case in the background), even a bastion of neutrality like Switzerland is forced to choose which side to take. Bern has in fact declared that it will spend approx 2 billion dollars to help Ukraine with humanitarian and development assistance over the next six years.
The decision comes after Western governments stepped up pressure on Switzerland to do more to help it defend itself against Russia. The Swiss government has confirmed the statements made in recent days in Washington by Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis, according to which the Swiss government will provide 1.8 billion Swiss francs (about 2 billion dollars) until 2028, adding 1.5 billion to the 300 million already allocated for this year and next.
Of this, Fox says, some 650 million francs have been set aside to help Ukraine rebuild. A move that came not by chance during a trip to the US. The Swiss have positioned themselves among the main countries that look with interest at the reconstruction efforts of Ukraine and in July they hosted an international conference on the issue in the southern city of Lugano. But other Western countries have pressed Switzerland to do more on other fronts: Several European Union member states have expressed their frustration that Bern has not allowed them to send Swiss-made weapons and other equipment to Ukraine military they bought.
US and G7 pressure on Switzerland
Meanwhile, the Swiss newspaper Handelszeitung reported that the G7 – made up of the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States – sent a letter to Swiss authorities this month calling for stronger action to strengthen international sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine . The Swiss claim that the their neutrality, provided for by the Constitutionprevents not only sending arms to combatants in active war zones like Ukraine, but also preventing other countries from shipping Swiss-made war materials to warring parties.
To add to the matter, also the fact that the Swiss Bankers Association estimates that 150-200 billion francs of assets are held by Russians in Swiss banks. THEThe Swiss government has noted that it has aligned itself with and agreed to a series of economic sanctions against the Russians and Russian interests launched by the European Union. But evidently the incessant pressing also reaches Bern to do more. While the world continues to move towards an ever clearer division.
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