he does his job

Miraculously, Switzerland has a hero: Federal Councilor Ignazio Cassis, who could never please so many, and least of all the German-speaking Swiss media, whose left-green collaborators value Ticino as a sunny place, not as a special kind of Switzerland – and a particularly important political culture. .

This was already the case in the time of the Consigliere Federale Flavio Cotti: he spoke better German than many journalists wrote, especially when it came to inserting or adding subordinate clauses, he showed particular artistry in framing sentences. He was accused of a love of language, not directly, of course, but wrapped up in the accusation that he spoke unpopularly and elitist, yes, it was so. In fact, Flavio Cotti was a very educated man, which is why he almost stopped being a lawyer – and probably why he became a world-renowned politician.

So now Dr. Ignazio Cassis, of a completely different Ticinese temperament, devoted not to rhetoric, but to diagnosis, and in the way a doctor should do: prudent and cautious, sometimes overcautious, as evidenced by his rejection of the framework agreement with the EU.

The Ticino native of Italian descent, even with an Italian passport until recently, is a stubborn observer who tends to put into practice what he sees – and thinks possible – such as the Ukraine conference in Lugano. For example, a trip to Kyiv on Thursday.

There were many good reasons for moving this train to war: primarily for security reasons, since a war criminal in the Kremlin is again shelling the Ukrainian capital. As for his re-election to the Federal Council, Ignazio Cassis could also take into account the mischief of those who correctly understand Putin from the outside – if only not to cause a stir that would hurt the majority!

His visit to Kyiv, conceived as a continuation of the assistance to Ukraine that he had already begun in Lugano, was for a man who has been repeatedly accused of opportunism, more important than personal affairs.

Oh yes, now that he is being praised for this, one can assume that he was speculating on this praise: I am a hero – unlike other European politicians who simply dive under Russian missiles, which again is not reckless.

Ignazio Cassis is not smart. He does his thing.

What else can you expect from a federal adviser?