“Dismantling neutrality”: Kremlin denounces “anti-Russian” design of Swiss foreign policy

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The Russian Foreign Ministry has reacted indignantly to an “anti-Russian draft of Switzerland’s foreign policy strategy”. The Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs (EDA) document for the period 2024 to 2027 “recognizes that Bern deliberately kept political dialogue with Moscow to a minimum,” said Maria Zakharova (47), spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry . “Well, that is not our choice,” Zakharova said on her ministry’s website on Saturday.

“Relationships with Russia are seriously strained as a result of the war of aggression against Ukraine and domestic political repression,” the draft said. “The future shape of relations with Russia will depend on the further course of the war and domestic political developments.” The authors of the document emphasize that Switzerland has “unequivocally condemned” Russia’s war of aggression.

Sharp warning from Moscow

Zakharova, for her part, condemns this as a “dismantling of Switzerland’s principles of ‘eternal neutrality’”. Bern moves “in the aftermath of the short-sighted politics of the ‘collective West’”. This has consequences for bilateral relations: “All this will of course be taken into account by Russia as a whole when further expanding our line towards Switzerland.”

The draft of the Swiss foreign policy strategy for the years 2024 to 2027 was presented at the end of September and is expected to be completed in early 2024, after consultations in the cantons and foreign policy committees of the federal chambers. (kes)

Source:Blick