“This is a major measure by Switzerland,” the president said Monday during a press briefing, adding that the Federal Council was taking “this step with conviction, in a thoughtful and unequivocal manner”.
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Switzerland will resume “the whole” economic sanctions by the European Union against Russia, including against President Vladimir Putin, and the freezing of assets, announced on Monday February 28 the President of the Swiss Confederation, Ignazio Cassis.
“This is a large-scale measure by Switzerland”declared the president during a press briefing, adding that the Federal Council was doing “this step with conviction, thoughtfully and unequivocally”. The Minister of Finance pointed out that the assets of personalities who are on the EU blacklist “were frozen with immediate effect”.
For her part, the Minister of Justice, Karin Keller-Sutter, pointed out that five Russian or Ukrainian oligarchs “very close to Vladimir Putin” and with strong economic ties with Switzerland “were immediately banned from entering Switzerland”.
These people targeted – whose names Switzerland does not want to make public – do not have a residence permit in Switzerland but important “economic ties, especially in finance and commodity trading”she added.
The Swiss authorities, who seemed reluctant to apply sanctions commensurate with the transgression represented by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, had been under strong pressure for several days to align themselves with the EU and the United States. .
Most political parties, with the exception of the radical right-wing party UDC – to which the Swiss finance minister belongs – called for a stronger gesture. Saturday, between 10 and 20,000 people, who marched to support the Ukrainian people, also very vocally demanded harsher sanctions.