Switzerland Today
Greetings from Zurich!
Swiss neutrality faces a challenge from an unexpected quarter - an errant German exporter.
This may explain why Swiss-made military armoured vehicles found their way to Ukraine via Denmark.
More on that below.
In the news: tax evasion, bailout funds and air crash charges
- The image of Swiss banks has taken another battering with a banker admitting tax evasion offences in the US, where a Senate committee says Credit Suisse continued to help tax evaders after its 2014 fine.
- Committees of both houses of parliament have backed a CHF109 billion state-backed bailout for the takeover of Credit Suisse by UBS.
- The Swiss military has charged a Skyguide air traffic controller and a pilot after the 2016 crash of two jets that killed another pilot.
The Swiss military vehicle mystery
The Neue Zürcher Zeitung newspaper can explain why a Swiss-made armoured car has appeared in the Ukraine war zone.
Switzerland has repeatedly denied requests from other countries to re-export Swiss war materiel to help Ukraine fight against Russian invaders.
So it came as some surprise to see two military vehicles in Ukraine that were manufactured by the Swiss company Mowag.
It appears that German entrepreneur Thomas Bockhold bought the Eagle vehicles from Denmark through his FWW Fahrzeugwerke company in the 1990s.
The 64-year-old told NZZ that the vehicles had been demilitarised and had “all the necessary permits”.
But the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs is unconvinced. Seco says it was never asked for permission, which is still necessary despite stripping out weapons from the vehicles.
This is not the first time the export of Swiss-made war materiel has come into question. Here’s a selection of previous controversies:
+ Pilatus banned from exporting to Saudi Arabia and UAE
The Federer express
What do you do when you’ve retired as the greatest ever tennis player? Find another camera.
That’s what Roger Federer has done by teaming up with another half-South African, comedian Trevor Noah.
The duo teamed up to shoot a comedy Swiss Tourism sketch on a train promoting the wonders of Switzerland.
Here is that sketchExternal link. I hope it lightens your day.
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