Roses are red, violets are blue – if Zelenskyy comes to Switzerland, Putin will have to do the same. Switzerland is threatened with an egg shortage – these are the reasons

Unlike the Christmas “Arena”, when decorating a Christmas tree in the studio was intended to brighten up the show, which was characterized by dissonances, the conclusion of the neutrality “Arena” was ultimately almost the highlight of the Friday political meeting.

A month ago, Green Party SVP Fischer and Arslan criticized each other for the full 70 minutes of the broadcast, and the decoration campaign afterward seemed a bit stiff. In the current issue, the “Arena” team has come up with something more refreshing.

The star was musician Elton John. The 76-year-old superstar joined the exclusive circle of ‘EGOT’ award winners this week, meaning he has won each of the four major entertainment awards – Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony – at least once.

Moderator Brotz took advantage of this current event and elicited one or two fun music anecdotes from his guests with targeted questions. But more about that at the end. The following lineup was discussed in the neutrality arena:

The program was anchored by the World Economic Forum (WEF), which took place for the 54th time this week. The star guest in the Graubünden mountains was Ukrainian President Volodymyr Selenskyj, and his appearance Tuesday in the Davos conference hall drew a standing ovation.

Perpetual discord

In the neutrality arena, Zelensky’s visit – especially the very warm welcome from Federal Councilor Ignazio Cassis – led to a classic 3-1 situation.

Seiler Graf, Candinas and Riniker largely agreed that Switzerland is right to show solidarity with Ukraine and should continue to support the country despite its neutrality. “Ukraine must not lose this war. “You have to think further about what this would mean if it really happened,” said SP national councilor Priska Seiler Graf.

Walter Gartmann of the SVP saw it very differently. The Neo-National Council of St. Gall – he repeatedly called the Russian attack on Ukraine ‘nonsense’ and the warring parties ‘Striit-Güggel’ – criticized the Swiss one-sidedness.

«A war, a dispute, it takes more than one, that’s two. What we cannot judge, I do not want to judge: who is the biggest culprit here.” Gartmann does not approve of the Russian war of aggression, but he also insisted on at least briefly considering NATO’s expansion to the east as a possible argument. to name.

The SVP National Council fundamentally disagrees with the way Switzerland is operating. Gartmann illustrated his views with an example: “Mrs. Riniker, you also have children. If a fight starts now, you won’t just make peace with one child. You have to bring both parties to the table, then there will be peace.”

Gartmann is not alone in his suggestion to invite Putin, or at least a Russian representative. Party member Roland Rino Büchel already suggested this this week.

FDP politician Riniker immediately gave the ball back: “That is absurd, even a father of four children must know that this is not comparable. It takes dialogue, negotiation and time, and you might have a little more of that at the family table. This comparison does not suit me at all, I have to reject it out of hand, sorry.” Later in the program, the woman from Aargau also described Gartmann’s views as “naive”.

This basic constellation was not expected to change in the remaining minutes of the broadcast and so the invited politicians more or less clearly wandered through the thicket of Swiss neutrality.

It doesn’t work without Putin

The FDP-center-SP trio is also aware that, despite the clear division of roles – Putin as the aggressor, Ukraine as the attacked state – there will be no peace without Russia being involved in the negotiations.

However, there was a downer in this regard from Sebastian Ramspeck, who works as an international correspondent for SRF and assessed the situation in the studio.

Both the peace conference held in Davos on Monday and the peace summit planned with Swiss support were based on the peace views of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. “Russia has a completely different idea.”

A vague term

So for the time being it remains the same: the negotiations between Russia and Ukraine currently seem like wishful thinking. Nevertheless, Switzerland must maintain its responsibility. Center National Councilor Martin Candinas emphasized the importance of the peace summit announced by Federal President Amherd. This is a “central task of neutrality”.

Candinas explained: “Neutrality does not mean passivity and indifference. That means commitment to stability in the world, but also to peace.” It is important that the Federal Council now holds discussions with the countries that have not taken such a clear position in this war, such as China, Brazil or India. This gives you the opportunity to increase the diplomatic pressure so that ultimately everyone is at the same table and you can look for solutions.

It became exciting when the parliamentarians in the studio realized that it was not entirely clear what neutrality Switzerland actually applied. Priska Seiler Graf said: “It would probably make it easier if we had more agreement on what it means to be neutral in the 21st century.” Gartmann of the SVP criticized his parliamentary colleagues: “On the one hand it is passive neutrality, on the other hand it is active. For me there is only one thing: eternal, armed neutrality.”

When the war in the Middle East, the Swiss arms industry and the negotiations on an agreement with the EU were discussed later in the program, TV viewers lost the overview.

So it is time to conclude the report here and at the end briefly discuss Elton John and the announced music anecdotes of the studio guests.

Maja Riniker hears the sound of the Brit “slowing down a bit”. Martin Candinas believes that Romansh singers deserve awards like Elton John’s. Walter Gartmann plays tuba with the Konkordia Mels music company and skips the rehearsal for the “Arena”. Priska Seiler Graf – a former big Madonna fan – played the flute for over twelve years.