The Swiss voice in the world since 1935
Top stories
Stay in touch with Switzerland

Berset rules out Russia’s return to Council of Europe anytime soon

Moscow's return to the Council of Europe "hard to imagine".
Moscow's return to the Council of Europe "hard to imagine". Keystone-SDA

Former Swiss president Alain Berset, now Secretary General of the Council of Europe, said there’s no chance of Russia rejoining the Council of Europe for now.

+ Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox

Berset said it’s difficult to see Russia rejoining the Council of Europe. He spoke to Swiss newspaper Le Temps the day after the third anniversary of the war in Ukraine. On Monday, the UN Security Council adopted a US resolution calling for swift peace in Ukraine. Russia backed the resolution, signalling a further thaw in relations between Moscow and Washington.

+Europe is stronger than often claimed, says Alain Berset

For now, there’s no chance of Russia rejoining the Council of Europe, said Berset. He insisted the Strasbourg-based pan-European organisation “is not a spa or wellness centre.”

“When one state attacks another and fails to meet its obligations, there must be consequences. Right now, we can’t see a way back,” added the Secretary General.

Translated from French with DeepL/sp

This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.

If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, if you want to learn more about how we use technology, click here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.

Popular Stories

News

5 megatonnes of emissions from 2050 despite net zero

More

Emissions reduction

Switzerland could produce up to 5Mt of emissions annually by 2050

This content was published on Two to five megatonnes of CO2 equivalents per year: this is the amount of greenhouse gas emissions that Switzerland is still expected to produce annually in 2050, a new study shows.

Read more: Switzerland could produce up to 5Mt of emissions annually by 2050
Customs duties threaten 100,000 jobs in Switzerland

More

Global trade

US tariffs putting 100,000 jobs at risk in Switzerland

This content was published on US tariffs of 39% on Swiss imports will directly affect 100,000 jobs, mainly in the watchmaking, machinery, metals, and food industries, economiesuisse warns.

Read more: US tariffs putting 100,000 jobs at risk in Switzerland
Switzerland releases four million for Sudan

More

Foreign Affairs

Switzerland releases CHF4 million for Sudan

This content was published on Switzerland has released CHF4 million (nearly $5 million) to help Sudan, which has been severely affected by famine and cholera.

Read more: Switzerland releases CHF4 million for Sudan

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR