Amherd is looking for State Secretary: diplomat in the sex trap

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The Swiss ambassador to Ankara, Jean-Daniel Ruch (60), will not become State Secretary for Security Policy in the DDPS – he would be open to blackmail. He will leave his ambassadorial post in Turkey at the end of this year and leave the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (EDA) on June 30, 2024. “Ambassador Ruch will not receive severance pay. But he will be dismissed for the duration of his notice period after his assignment in Ankara ends,” the FDFA said.

“It was also about prostitution in the ambassador’s residence,” writes the “Tages-Anzeiger”. As circles around the Federal Council confirmed to SonntagsBlick, one location was the Tel Aviv branch, where Ruch represented Switzerland in Israel from 2016 to 2021. The former special envoy to the Middle East may have made himself vulnerable to blackmail in a hot spot in global politics with a high security risk and many secret services.

This is not prohibited. But the code of conduct for FDFA employees abroad is restrictive: the ‘purchase of sexual services’ is prohibited ‘if it exploits people in need or dependence’. It can be difficult to draw a clear line here. The issue of blackmail is not directly addressed in the code. It only says: EDA employees must “refrain from anything that harms the performance of their professional activities.”

“Jean-Daniel Ruch will not comment further on this,” the FDFA said.

This question still haunts Federal Bern. Ruch’s last security check was from June 2019. It was valid for a maximum of five years, so until June 2024. It is unclear why federal councilor Viola Amherd (61) decided not to carry out a new check.

A lawyer appointed by the Federal Council reports on SonntagsBlick that he was grilled for hours by a woman and a man in Bern. ‘Do you have extramarital affairs? Do you visit prostitutes?” A top official says she has also been asked similar questions. “I was shocked the first time and asked the counter question: how many male prostitutes do you know?” Top officials say the profilers also asked about the straight dating app Tinder and the gay app Grindr on behalf of the Federal Council.

Whoever is elected by parliament does not need to be vetted. Federal councilors do not have to reveal their intimate lives any more than, for example, the head of the federal public prosecutor’s office. Anything else would be problematic in a democracy and would give the government even more power.

Of course Viola Amherd, but also Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis (62), who cannot control his diplomats – and Amherd’s search committee. It was staffed by officials such as Fedpol boss Nicoletta della Valle (62), VBS Secretary General Toni Eder (62) and EDA Secretary General Markus Seiler (55), who earn 330,000 francs a year or more.

Federal councilor Viola Amherd is convinced that the challenges of the future require a separate state secretariat. Other departments view your project with suspicion. For example, the EDA, which takes the lead on geopolitical issues. There is also criticism from the SVP, which warns against further rapprochement with NATO. And army circles blame Amherd for strengthening the civilian sector of its ministry: “The planned VBS state secretariat will further weaken the position of the army and swell the government,” criticizes Stefan Holenstein (61), president of the Swiss Association of Military Associations. ‘I demand a stop from Mrs Amherd – she must cancel the Sepos exercise. This includes the urgent expansion of the military’s defense capabilities with an increase in its budget.”

Viola Amherd is committed to the establishment of a state secretariat for security policy. It is unclear whether a replacement for Ruch will be found by January 2024. SonntagsBlick learned from a reliable source: it is unlikely that Pälvi Pulli (52) will become State Secretary. The previous person responsible for safety policy did excellently in the assessment – but not in the areas of leadership qualities and ‘social skills’.

Source:Blick