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Former Federal Councilor Ueli Maurer (72) met the Chinese ambassador in Bern in mid-April. Explosive: The meeting took place without the knowledge or consent of the incumbent Federal Council. The responsible department of the Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) was also not informed of the meeting.
Maurer is not the first or only SVP politician to show sympathy for an anti-democratic country with his advance. SVP politicians repeatedly draw attention to their closeness to autocratic regimes.
Christopher Blocher
Especially SVP sire Christoph Blocher (82). In October 2009, the former federal councilor spent ten days with his wife and youngest daughter in the North Korean dictatorship. He later reported his impressions in the “Weltwoche”. Article title: «Hiking holidays in North Korea». Blocher described the capital Pyongyang as “clean” and the country as “thoroughly organized”. He even drew parallels with democracy in Switzerland, writing: “Both countries want to maintain their independence and strive for a secure future.”
Through Ems-Patvag, a division of his Ems-Chemie Holding, Blocher also supplied projectile fuses as “anonymous serial products” and production licenses to the apartheid state in South Africa. After the death of Nelson Mandela (1918-2013), South Africa’s first black president, Blocher said on his television channel Teleblocher: “Mandela is somewhat overrated in many places.” And, “The whites kept the country very orderly at the time,” he explained of South Africa. Racial segregation was based on reciprocity anyway.
Blocher also provoked Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine – repeatedly preaching the Russian narrative that the West was the perpetrator and Russia the victim. The old SVP politician lamented the deaths of “very young Russian soldiers” in a text entitled “Half the Truth”. And when they die, someone has to be responsible.
Roger Koeppel
The Zurich SVP National Council and “Weltwoche” boss Roger Köppel (58) follow the same line. His newspaper regularly defends Russian President Vladimir Putin (70) and seeks understanding for his politics. Recently, Köppel even went on a tour of Russia, which he organized with media appeal.
He met Putin’s Vladimir Solovyov (59) in Moscow. There was also a meeting with Maria Lwova-Belowa (38), the Russian Commissioner for Children’s Rights. The International Criminal Court in The Hague (Netherlands) has issued an arrest warrant against her for alleged war crimes. It is not surprising that Russian propaganda is taking advantage of the Swiss politician’s visit to Russia.
Köppel has already interviewed Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban (59) several times in his “World Week”, praising him as a “defender of Europe” and “role model for Switzerland”. Only: the Hungarian head of government is following an international radicalization strategy. He is repeatedly accused of being close to right-wing extremism.
Andrew Glaner
The Aargau SVP National Councilor Andreas Glarner (60) also indicated several times that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (45) is prolonging the war in Ukraine with his behavior and that the West is complicit in the conflict with Russia. He even advised Ukraine to finally make concessions to Russia and cede Crimea and Donbas.
Magdalena Martullo Blocher
The Graubünden SVP land councilor Magdalena Martullo-Blocher (53), daughter of Christoph Blocher and head of the chemical company Ems with two production sites in Russia, has banned the use of the word ‘war’ in her company. Internally there is talk of the “Ukrainian conflict” – to protect “our employees and our company”, she ordered. In the spirit of Russian propaganda. This speaks of a “military special operation” in Ukraine.
Peter Spühler
600 jobs, a factory of 60 million. In November 2014, former SVP National Councilor Peter Spuhler (64) opened the first factory of his company Stadler Rail in Belarus. There were fanfare sounds, happy handshakes with Alexander Lukashenko (68) and words of praise from the autocrat himself: “Spuhler, a man of action!”
Only: Lukashenko’s regime locks up members of the opposition, the UN speaks of torture of peaceful demonstrators. However, the Swiss entrepreneur never really distanced himself from him. On the contrary: Lukashenko used Spuhler’s involvement for propaganda purposes. Because of the sanctions related to the war in Ukraine, Stadler Rail had to move a large part of the production to other factories.
SVP Freiburg
Keyword Belarus: From the end of May, the honorary consul of Belarus Andrey Nazheskin (40) will take up residence in the legislature of the city of Freiburg as SVP representative, as reported by RTS. Problematic: Nazheskin will thus represent the interests of a sanctioned country.
The dual national is one of two honorary consuls of Belarus in Switzerland. This role, often performed by civilians, is similar to that of a shadow diplomat. So a contact person who serves their country through their network.
Source:Blick
I am Liam Livingstone and I work in a news website. My main job is to write articles for the 24 Instant News. My specialty is covering politics and current affairs, which I’m passionate about. I have worked in this field for more than 5 years now and it’s been an amazing journey. With each passing day, my knowledge increases as well as my experience of the world we live in today.
