By deciding on 29 February to align itself with Western sanctions imposed on Moscow in response to the ongoing conflict with Ukraine, thus placing its sacrosanct neutrality on hold, the Swiss Confederation made a decision the Swiss press described as “historic”.
In 2014, after Russia’s annexation of Crimea, Bern had draped itself in this same neutrality and its tradition of “good offices” in order to refrain from sanctioning oligarchs close to Vladimir Putin, following in the footsteps of the US and the EU.
But a Geneva editorialist says the situation is different this time around: “The Federal Council had no other choice this time, given the pressure exerted from all sides, from outside and inside the country.”
