Stadler Rail's assembly plant in Fanipol, around 25km from the capital Minsk.
Keystone / Tatyana Zenkovich
The Swiss representation in Minsk will be upgraded to a full embassy due to the growing strategic importance of the former Soviet republic for regional stability.
The decision was made by the seven-member Federal Council on Wednesday. The embassy will be officially inaugurated by Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis sometime this year.
“Switzerland sees great promise in Belarus’s economic potential and in its commitment as an intermediary for stability in the region,” the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) said in a statement.
Switzerland has had a representation in Belarus since 2010. The Alpine nation had pushed for the lifting of European Union sanctions against Belarus, which eventually occurred in 2016. Since then, there have been several bilateral meetings on political and economic issues between the two countries.
Swiss train manufacturer Stadler set up an assembly plant near Minsk in 2013 that employs 450 locals. The company’s goal is to win a share of the regional market.
“There is great potential for upgrading the rolling stock in the states of the former Soviet Union, and more especially in Russia,” says the company’s website.
Belarus has a reputation as an authoritarian state with restrictive elections and limited civil liberties. It has been classified as “not free”External link by democracy watchdog Freedom House, which gave it a score of 19 out of 100 in its Freedom of the World report.
“Alongside the upgrading of the representation, the FDFA is strengthening its commitment in the area of human rights in Belarus,” said the government statement.
Related Stories
Popular Stories
More
International Geneva
A Geneva-based global health foundation came close to ‘collapse’. Where were regulators?
Swiss-EU treaties: signatures handed in for Kompass initiative
This content was published on
The committee behind the Compass Initiative submitted the signatures it had collected to the Federal Chancellery on Friday.
This content was published on
Esther Grether has died aged 89. Considered one of Switzerland’s leading entrepreneurs, the owner of the Basel-based Doetsch Grether Group was also a major shareholder in the Swatch Group and an art collector.
This content was published on
The flag of the Swiss Wrestling Federation has been received at the start of the Swiss Wrestling and Alpine Festival in Mollis, canton Glarus.
Figurine heads in Zurich school not considered discriminatory
This content was published on
The 16 carved figurine heads in the auditorium of the Hirschengraben school building in Zurich are not discriminatory, according to an independent expert report.
Swiss political parties report income of CHF22.4 million for 2024
This content was published on
Ten parties reported income totalling CHF22.4 million for 2024, less than in the 2023 election year. The reports are based on the regulations for transparency in political financing.
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.
Read more
More
The bombers of Zurich: how two Russians shaped Swiss history
This content was published on
In 1889, a Russian student in Zurich accidentally blew himself up. In the aftermath of the incident, a crackdown on undesirables in Switzerland.
This content was published on
At the final ministerial meeting in Basel last week, there was a record participation with 53 ministers and 1,300 delegates attending. Particular accolades for Switzerland’s chairmanship came from United States Secretary of State John Kerry and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier – not a negligible feat considering that the meeting ended with no consensus statement…
This content was published on
Switzerland has been collaborating with NATO for more than 20 years but membership is out of the question for reasons of strict neutrality.
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.