Switzerland’s image takes a fresh battering

Papers report another "black week" for Switzerland Keystone Archive

The arrest of Switzerland's ambassador to Luxembourg, Peter Friederich, has again damaged the country's image, according to the national press.

Friederich’s arrest on money laundering charges in Bern on Monday also comes at an awkward time for the Swiss government, which is coming under increasing pressure to relax its banking secrecy laws.

Switzerland’s main French-language papers all reported Friederich’s arrest prominently, emphasising its potential impact on Swiss negotiations with the European Union.

Le Temps headlined the case as “a new embarrassment for [Swiss] diplomacy”.

The paper said the case came in what had been a “black week” for the government, which is battling accusations of arrogance and heartlessness for failing to send a high-ranking leader to memorial services for victims of last week’s the mid-air collision in Swiss-controlled airspace.

“[The government’s] errors of judgement speak of a country that is shut away, lacking in vision, and prepared to alienate itself from powerful allies. At a time of negotiations and treaties, this will weigh more heavily than any alleged crime by an ambassador.”

The Tribune de Genève echoed the sentiment that the case once again called into question Switzerland’s banking secrecy laws.

Borer case

Newspapers across Switzerland also linked Friederich’s arrest to the Swiss foreign ministry’s efforts to juggle fallout from another scandal involving its former ambassador to Germany, Thomas Borer (see link below).

The Neue Zürcher Zeitung said the arrest increases pressure on Switzerland at “an inconvenient time”, but also demonstrates that the country’s money laundering laws are working.

“Once again the Swiss foreign ministry is confronted with negative headlines about a diplomat,” said the paper.

It highlighted the fact that the Swiss government is currently negotiating a series of sensitive bilateral agreements with the EU, which wants access to details of its citizens’ accounts in Switzerland in order to tax interest on savings.

Bad timing

The Swiss government maintains that the weakening of banking secrecy laws is not an option. However, commentators fear that news that one of its ambassadors is suspected of money laundering will only provide EU negotiators with more ammunition.

Der Bund, the Bern-based German-language daily, said the case would again damage Switzerland’s image abroad.

“The fact that among the 400 members of the [Swiss] diplomatic corps there are also some black sheep is not the foreign ministry’s mistake,” the paper commented. “Abroad, however, the arrest will be immediately linked to banking secrecy.”

Perceptions worse than reality

Although the paper says the ambassador has a right to the presumption of innocence, it concludes that “perceptions are more important than reality”.

“It is in Switzerland’s interest to have the case resolved as soon as possible. Otherwise the damage will be worse,” the paper said.

“The credibility of the cabinet in its negotiations with the EU on taxation is already damaged. As of [Monday], it has become more difficult to withstand the massive pressure from Brussels for changes to banking secrecy laws,” it warned.

swissinfo