Despite the sanctions taken against Russia and its upcoming entry into the UN Security Council, Switzerland
"is still neutral"
, assured President Ignazio Cassis on Wednesday, distinguishing between military
"neutrality"
and condemnation of a violation of international law. .
"Of course there is a feeling of stronger unity in Europe against this aggression (from Ukraine by Russia, editor's note) which has awakened us all from a situation of peace which we have enjoyed for 70 years"
, declared the current president of the Confederation during an interview with some journalists at the headquarters of the UN in New York.
"Bridging"
But
"Switzerland is still neutral, the neutrality of Switzerland is not in question"
, he assured, rejecting in particular the idea of a rapprochement with NATO.
"Bringing together in the sense of an intermediate step to ask one day to become a member, no, for the moment it is not a political discussion in Switzerland".
“Neutrality is quite simple: one does not take part in a war, one does not send arms or troops to a war, and one does not give one's territory for arms or troops to warring parties, nor we do not participate in a military alliance like NATO”,
he developed.
But
“around this neutrality there is a foreign and security policy”
, and
“condemning the violation of international law by this Russian military aggression is an obligation based on the Constitution and which in no way harms neutrality”
, a- he insisted.
Switzerland has resumed the sanctions against Russian officials decided by the European Union after the invasion of Ukraine.
According to some observers, for this reason, Moscow seems to consider that Switzerland is no longer neutral, a position which would be at the origin of the forced break in the Syrian talks, a new session of which was to take place at the end of July in Geneva.
“We expected that the Russians would not thank us for the sanctions, it is a reaction which was amply predictable but which does not change the position of Switzerland in any way”
, commented Ignazio Cassis.
For the first time since joining the United Nations 20 years ago, Switzerland was elected in June to occupy one of the seats of non-permanent members of the Security Council from January.
Pleading for a
"strengthening"
of the treaty on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, the signatory states of which have been meeting at the UN since Monday, the Swiss president indicated that his country would try within the Security Council to "build a
bridge"
between nuclear and non-nuclear powers,
"with the credibility of a neutral country"
.
