Cassis questions 100 million emergency aid for Ukraine After terrorist attack in Somalia, number of victims continues to rise

In an interview with CH-Media newspapers, Federal President Ignazio Cassis described his meeting with a group of women in a Ukrainian village on Saturday: “They are freezing at home because they have no windows. And the local authorities cannot help because they lack the resources and the necessary equipment.”

He concluded that the West must act now: “The platform should be defined by the end of the year to coordinate and implement immediate aid for this winter, as well as financing reconstruction.”

It’s a huge task:

The EU speaks of 3 to 5 billion euros per month. How much Switzerland should actually contribute, Cassis declined to say last week: “This question is premature. Now it’s a matter of defining responsibilities.”

Two options

But now research shows that concrete amounts for winter aid to Ukraine are already being discussed in Bern. For example, a discussion paper circulated in the offices on Monday in which two variants were discussed. In the first variant, it is stipulated that Switzerland 100 million francs in winter aid should pay.

In this variant, slightly more than 76 million is made available via an additional loan from the federal government; the remaining 23 million should be compensated in the existing budget. The newspaper states that this payment is in line with Switzerland’s humanitarian tradition and that it also helps to prevent further refugee flows to Europe.

The second variant wants to do without an extra loan. This means that the departments involved – namely the Department of Foreign Affairs with the Development and Cooperation Directorate and the Department of Economic Affairs with the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs – divert as much money as possible from the existing budget in favor of Ukraine.

As the first variant shows, this should be possible for a good 23 million; but it seems doubtful that even in this variant 100 million francs of winter aid would eventually come together.

According to well-informed sources, the money from Switzerland should be deposited into existing funds of international organizations such as the World Bank. They will be used, among other things, for the maintenance and repair of railway and electrical infrastructure and for urgently needed humanitarian aid.

Disappointed Ukrainians

Apparently, the Ukrainian side had expected Cassis to announce a new aid package for the war-ravaged country during his visit to Kiev. So says Irène Kälin, president of the National Council.

The Aargau Greens took part in a parliamentary meeting on the future of Crimea in Zagreb last week. Ukraine is grateful for Switzerland’s support. But her delegation also made it unequivocally clear that it needed more support from Switzerland.

The highest Swiss woman demands this herself, Kälin refers to the “Ukraine Support Tracker” of the Kiel Institute for the World Economy. This shows which country supports Ukraine and to what extent. Military, humanitarian and financial aid are registered. The largest donor is the United States: the country has pledged USD 52 billion in aid since the start of the war. Switzerland is one of the stingy countries — and ranks 29th out of 40.

Of course, this also has to do with the fact that Switzerland does not supply weapons to Ukraine. If you only look at humanitarian aid, Switzerland is lying in absolute terms in ninth placemeasured in terms of economic strength at rank 14. Kälin thinks that’s not enough:

Just the beginning

The demand for more help from Switzerland does not only come from the left-wing parties. GLP chairman Jürg Grossen also says that Switzerland should significantly increase the financial resources for aid to Ukraine. “As one of the richest countries in Europe, Switzerland should provide aid to Ukraine in line with its economic strength.”

The debate over how much Switzerland should be involved in Ukraine will go beyond emergency aid in the winter. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is already preparing an aid package for next year. According to research, another CHF 100 million in aid is planned.