Swiss army and intelligence service have new heads

The army and the SRC have found their new head Keystone-SDA

The Swiss army and the Federal Intelligence Service (FIS) have found replacement chiefs. Benedikt Roos will succeed Thomas Süssli as head of defence while Serge Bavaud will replace Christian Dussey.

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The duo were appointed on Friday by the Swiss government.

Major General Benedikt Roos, 60, will take up his duties on January 1. He has been promoted to the rank of corps commander having held various positions in the army since 1997. He has been commander of land forces since August 2024.

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Serge Bavaud, 52, from Fribourg, will take over as head of the FIS on November 1. His predecessor, who had announced that he would remain until the end of March 2026, will step down at the end of the year. Bavaud was appointed ambassador to Algeria in June and should have taken up his post this autumn.

Tense context

The resignations of Thomas Süssli and Christian Dussey took place against a tense backdrop. They were announced in the press at the end of February, a day before the official announcement by the government and to everyone’s surprise.

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The announcements came a month after the departure of former government minister Viola Amherd, who was in charge of the defence ministry.

They also followed the publication of a damning report on the Ruag MRO Group, which is owned by the Swiss Confederation, revealing serious shortcomings. Several controversies have surrounded and continue to surround the defence ministry. The latest is the “fixed price” for F-35 jets.

The head of FIS is also in a delicate position. The modernisation and restructuring of the agency is a major challenge, but it faces a number of stumbling blocks. When announcing his departure, Dussey pointed out that the pressure was enormous and that “people are getting tired”.

Translated from French by DeepL/ mga

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