Why Switzerland is once again becoming the enemy of the US The “Magic Pass” is gaining popularity

Switzerland’s swift participation in EU sanctions after the Russian invasion of Ukraine earned it praise from the highest US authorities. President Joe Biden was delighted and publicly announced that even neutral Switzerland would participate. While the Federal Council took it easy, Scott Miller, the US Ambassador to Bern, echoed this praise in an interview with the NZZ:

Miller’s praise has since turned into the opposite. The US ambassador has harshly and openly criticized Switzerland’s position. He argues that Switzerland is in “the worst crisis since World War II” and makes it clear that it could do much more in terms of sanctions against Russia:

Miller also states unequivocally that Switzerland cannot evade responsibility by referring to its neutrality:

Miller’s interview provoked strong reactions. Memories of Switzerland’s disputes over Holocaust funds and banking secrecy are awakened. They are not good memories. Both times Switzerland had the worst ending for itself. Since watson users are often young, here’s a brief historical overview:

In the 1990s, a violent conflict broke out between American Jews and Swiss banks. The financial institutions would refuse to hand over the money held in their accounts from Jews killed in the Holocaust and would collect it themselves, the allegation goes. A Republican senator named Alfonse D’Amato picked up on this accusation and, along with Jewish organizations, caused a stir.

The Swiss bankers reacted conceited and the Swiss politicians clumsy. The then economy minister, Pascal Delamuraz, even spoke in an interview of an “attempted blackmail by the Jewish organizations” and thus poured hectoliters of fuel on the fire.

The dispute escalated and the role of the Swiss National Bank during the millennium also made headlines. The Federal Council eventually had to commission ETH historian Jean-François Bergier to scrutinize the allegations – years later it turned out that there was little flesh on the bone – and the banks could only get away with a discount of 1.86 Free billions franks from the affair.

Swiss banking secrecy had long been a thorn in the side of Americans—and not just them. There is almost no thriller in which the villain does not hide his stolen money in an anonymous account at a Swiss bank. Switzerland, for its part, was ready to defend this secret tooth and nail. The then Minister of Finance, Hans-Rudolf Merz, even exclaimed in parliament: “You bite into banking secrecy.”

Shortly afterwards, however, it was the Swiss bankers who had to go to the dentist. The US accused 11 Swiss banks of complicity in tax evasion. US prosecutors could count on a whistleblower in the ranks of UBS, who described in great detail how he had helped wealthy clients smuggle money through the tax authorities.

Switzerland could not resist this pressure. The Federal Council and parliament passed a law dictated by the Americans that abolishes banking secrecy for foreigners. Since June 2014, Switzerland provides administrative assistance when a corresponding request comes from the US.

So now we are stuck again because of our vague attitude towards Russia. Not wrong. What Constantin Seibt writes in the Republic is correct: “The Federal Council and Parliament have not shown the slightest curiosity about oligarch funds or commodity trading. To this day, no one knows how much Russian money is tucked away in our country.”

According to the Bankers Association, it should be 150 to 200 billion francs. Only 7.5 billion Swiss francs have been seized so far.

So far, the Federal Council has not done well again. Just like Delamuraz, Federal President Alain Berset sparked the discussion on Sunday with an interview in the NZZ. In Confederate style, he invoked neutrality to justify the ban on states like Germany from passing ammunition from Switzerland to Ukraine. Like the Putin understanders, he called for immediate negotiations; and, culminating in an interview that would be a gross understatement to describe it as silly, he even spoke of a “war frenzy” into which supporters of Ukraine had reportedly fallen.

Berset partially revised these statements, but the damage has been done. “Anyone can call for negotiations,” Miller replies. “But President Zelensky and the Ukrainian people should want that.”

“When it rains, it pours” is an American saying. The current crisis at CS proves that it is not unfounded. The behavior of the traditional Swiss bank is causing head shaking on the other side of the Atlantic. The SEC, the US stock exchange regulator, has issued a statement against CS for incorrect accounting.

Well-known financial commentators have already written them off. For example, Duncan Mavin argues in the Washington Post that CS culture is broken, “so broken it’s beyond repair.”

Meanwhile, people in Bern also realize that something is brewing. Only the SVP shows resistance. Franz Grüter, chairman of the Foreign Policy Commission, condemned Miller’s statements as “outrageous”. When not singing, Roger Köppel, who is still a member of the National Council, constantly reiterates his commitment to unconditional neutrality on his video channel “Weltwoche daily” and even calls for the lifting of sanctions against Russia.

Köppel cannot count on a majority of the people. The Tages-Anzeiger reports on an ongoing ETH survey on the topic of “Security 2023” and states that “75 percent of those surveyed support the sanctions against Russia, and an equal number believe that the sanctions are in line with Swiss neutrality”.

With that, the SVP is once again on its own. The other bourgeois parties are in solidarity with Ukraine. Aware that the growing conflict between the US and China will lead Switzerland into even more treacherous waters in the future, FDP National Councilor Christa Markwalder makes clear: “We are expected to move more clearly towards the West positioning, towards common values. and indicate interests.”