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EU boss Ursula von der Leyen (64) was belligerent when she announced new sanctions against Russia in mid-February. She said that Putin has brutally targeted civilians in his brutal war, for which he should be held accountable as an aggressor. “And we’re tightening the screws with the tenth enforcement package.” The tenth package focuses on industrial products: antennas, truck spare parts, cranes. In Switzerland, the Federal Council has recently decided that it will assume the sanctions. According to the information obtained, there is no controversial point in the new measures. So this is just a formality.
The fact that Switzerland is taking on EU sanctions one-on-one is a thorn in the SVP’s side. “We also reject this package of sanctions,” says parliamentary group leader Thomas Aeschi, 44. And his party colleague Thomas Matter (56) adds: “We are generally against sanctions unless they come from the UN.” According to the Zurich National Council, no one who takes unilateral measures in a conflict can be neutral. “We defend ourselves against this with an attempt at neutrality.”
“We think we’ve done everything…”
At the State Secretariat of Economic Affairs (Seco) in Bern, the sanctions cause significant additional work. Phone lines shine when the EU announces a new package. In March 2022 the responsible department was strengthened internally and two months later the Federal Council approved five additional positions. According to spokesperson Fabian Maienfisch, currently twelve people are working at Seco alone to enforce sanctions against Russia.
For Scott Miller, 42, the US Ambassador to Bern, these efforts are not enough. He attacked Seco head-on in an interview with “NZZ”: “First of all, he believes Seco itself has done enough,” he said. But in a country that has historically had little operational experience with sanctions, this is not surprising. Seco boss Helene Budliger Artieda (58) now defends herself compared to SonntagsBlick: “We believe we’re doing everything we can.” We are happy to receive concrete information from other countries, if any.
130 requests per week
Monitoring and enforcement of sanctions is “Courant normal” for Seco – currently there are 24 such regulations. The extent of the sanctions against Russia is particularly important: Seco receives approximately 130 inquiries each week, and several thousand cases have been processed since March 2022. In addition to the financial sector, many companies are now affected by the industry. For example, small companies that don’t have their own legal departments, that manufacture spare parts for machines somewhere in Emmental and don’t know if they’re still allowed to export now.
Stefan Brupbacher (55) is the director of Swissmem, the umbrella organization of the machinery industry. “It hurts individual companies,” he says. First of all, companies that make large investments in the Russian market will feel the effects of the sanctions. “Now they have to open up new markets.” According to Brupbacher, Russia’s attack on Ukraine marks a turning point in terms of security on the European continent. “Swissmem has always supported sanctions.” But he doesn’t worry that Switzerland is a place to work: “The industry is used to responding to new challenges in an agile manner.”
Source :Blick
I’m Tim David and I work as an author for 24 Instant News, covering the Market section. With a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism, my mission is to provide accurate, timely and insightful news coverage that helps our readers stay informed about the latest trends in the market. My writing style is focused on making complex economic topics easy to understand for everyone.
