Borer replacement named

Borer (middle), his wife Fielding and Berlin's Mayor Klaus Wowereit at the ambassador's farewell function on Wednesday Keystone

Switzerland has named its new ambassador to Germany, two weeks after recalling its current man in Berlin in the wake of a sleaze scandal.

Swiss ambassador to the Philippines, Werner Baumann, will replace Thomas Borer, who was brought back to Bern after foreign minister Joseph Deiss said, “he can no longer effectively fulfil his mission in Berlin”.

The recall followed allegations in a tabloid newspaper, the weekly SonntagsBlick, that Borer was having an affair.

Denial

Borer immediately denied the story’s truth, and launched legal action against the paper.

But the story sparked weeks of fierce public debate about Swiss media standards and ended in his recall.

Borer was posted to Berlin three years ago, where he and Fielding built a reputation as A-list partygoers. Supporters said their outgoing style had helped explode many stereotypes about Swiss conservatism, while their critics said their media-savvy antics were inappropriate.

Baumann, a 55-year-old career diplomat and trained lawyer from canton Uri who entered the Swiss Foreign Ministry in 1978, has held posts in New York, Prague and Manila.

The Berlin posting is considered one of Switzerland’s most important diplomatic missions.

swissinfo with agencies