The Swiss fallout of Putin’s war

Good morning from Switzerland, 

Within just a few days, Europe and the world have been thrust into a new reality. SWI swissinfo.ch has been following the events in Ukraine with both news and analysis over the past two weeks. 

The Russian invasion and war in Ukraine not only shifted the world into a new era but it has also encroached on our daily lives. Many are anxious about the civilian population in Ukraine, about global nuclear security, or about the stability of democracy. 

At SWI swissinfo.ch, we follow events from the heart of Europe. Here too, things are moving. For one thing, Switzerland is re-defining its vision of neutrality – a principle dear to the Alpine nation, but which also has much broader historical and geographic reach, as our democracy correspondent Bruno Kaufmann explains. 

Many say that Switzerland escaped the horrors of the two World Wars thanks to its famed neutrality. Is that really the case? And which kind of neutrality will be needed to deal with the new geopolitical reality? Swiss journalist and political observer Markus Häfliger breaks down the bigger picture for Swiss foreign policy in seven points. 

Swiss neutrality is of course mainly a military affair. As such, the country has always remained distant from NATO. But is this also something to be reconsidered? Security analyst Henrik Larsen outlines how Swiss defence policy, as well as the European security architecture more largely, is entering a new era. 

Sanctions, bankers and commodities 

Was the initial Swiss reluctance to follow EU sanctions on Russia only due to neutrality? The hesitation, even if only for a few days, attracted widespread international criticism. Our finance specialist Matthew Allen writes about Russian assets in Swiss banks. 

It’s not just the assets of oligarchs sitting in Swiss banks. The Alpine nation is also where three-quarters of Russian crude oil and oil products are managed. And after the sanctions have frozen many Russian banks out of the SWIFT financial messaging system, Switzerland’s commodity trading centre is scrambling to adapt. 

While Russian interests in Switzerland are taking a hit, Swiss interests in Russia are also affected, writes our multinational companies specialist Jessica Davis-Plüss. Like many big firms around the world, Swiss businesses – including ABB and the MSC shipping company – are being forced to downscale or stop operations in Russia. 

While many analysts, as well as the Swiss defence minister, have played down the threat of a direct attack on Switzerland, fears of nuclear fallout are in the air for the first time in years. What would a nuclear conflict actually look like? What’s the extent of the arsenal at Putin’s command? 

Switzerland, which was on high nuclear alert during the Cold War, seems to have gradually abandoned its policy to ensure protective bomb shelters for all its citizens. Our foreign affairs correspondent Sibilla Bondolfi asks how prepared “fortress Switzerland” really is for the worst case scenario. 

In Geneva, where US President Joe Biden met Vladimir Putin in a historic summit last year, many have been surprised by the sudden all-out war. In her latest Inside Geneva podcast, Imogen Foulkes discusses how the “tectonic plates of history” are shifting, and what the international community can do about it.  

Wishing our readers a day, 

The SWI swissinfo.ch editorial team. 

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