Stigmatized Russians in Switzerland
SUNDAY MORNING: Members of the Russian community in Switzerland say they have been singled out following the invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces, says Le Matin Dimanche. A heavy climate and threats are observed around institutions bringing together Russians, according to several sources interviewed by the newspaper. Some talk about discrimination. A Russian, who has set up an active group on Facebook, entitled “Protection of the rights of Russians in Switzerland”, says that she receives testimonies every day: “We receive a large number of death threats and calls for violence against Russians”. After a televised intervention, the head of the UDC Genève Elvira Jacquier Voskresenskaia claims to have been “the target of many insults […] My party called me the next day to tell me that I had caused a fire and that I had to resign from my duties”, which she did.
Diplomats or spies?
SUNDAY VIEW: A third of Russian diplomats accredited in Switzerland would work for the Russian secret services, reveals the SonntagsBlick, citing the Intelligence Service of the Confederation (SRC). There would thus be 70 spies among the 220 Russian diplomats registered in Switzerland. Many European countries such as France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Slovenia, Austria or Greece, as well as the United States have massively expelled Russian diplomats since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. In Switzerland, no deportation is planned for the moment. According to the newspaper, Russia could transfer illegal activities to Switzerland or use it as a starting point to circumvent the measures of other Schengen states.
Lower financial aid for Ukrainian refugees
SUNDAY NEWSPAPER: Ukrainians in many cantons receive less financial aid than other refugees, reports the SonntagsZeitung. A family of three in the canton of Aargau, for example, receives 865 francs for food, clothes, nappies, hygiene articles and train tickets. That’s less than half the subsistence minimum. If the Ukrainians were ordinary refugees, such a family would receive 1800 francs.
Switzerland-Ukraine talks on freezing Russian assets
SUNDAY NEWSPAPER: The blocking of Russian assets following the sanctions imposed after the invasion of Ukraine by Russia was the subject of a meeting between Ukrainian and Swiss authorities on Wednesday, reports the SonntagsZeitung. Ukraine’s special representative for sanctions, Oleksii Makeiev, has called on Switzerland to take swift action. Switzerland should play a more active role in Western sanctions, he adds in the columns of the newspaper. In addition to the banking sector, the real estate sector is also affected, he specifies. Ukrainians have lists of Russian companies and businessmen close to Russian President Vladimir Putin. They contain more than 1000 names.
Swiss banks must cooperate
NZZ ON SUNDAY: The new ambassador of the United States of America in Switzerland, Scott Miller, calls in the NZZ am Sonntag the Swiss banks to actively seek the hidden funds of the Russian oligarchs affected by the sanctions decided after the Russian assault on Ukraine. There will be negative consequences for banks that do not cooperate, he warns. However, he stresses that the collaboration with the Swiss authorities is good. The Swiss Bankers Association (SBA) states in the newspaper that the banks strictly comply with all the regulations and measures in force. The banks even apply several filters of cumulative sanctions, assures the SBA.
High demand for protective equipment
SUNDAY VIEW: The Federal Armaments Office (armasuisse) has received dozens of requests for protective equipment since the start of the war in Ukraine, according to SonntagsBlick. Among them are helmets for the fire brigade of a Ukrainian city, protective vests for the employees of a Swiss group and first aid items for relatives. Referring to the law on war material, armasuisse rejected all claims. About fifty requests were received by telephone and email.
Blur around gas supply
NZZ ON SUNDAY: The Confederation has no contingency plan if a boycott of Russian natural gas were to be taken by Western countries to sanction the invasion of Ukraine, writes the NZZ am Sonntag. The Federal Office for Economic Supply refers to a document dating from 2019, but there are no texts which define how the Confederation would concretely proceed in the event of a quota. It is also unclear who in Switzerland would still be supplied with gas and who would not. Files are being prepared. The Confederation had started the consultation procedure for a new ordinance in August 2021.
Abduction and conspiracy theories
SUNDAY MORNING/NZZ AM SUNDAY/SONNTAGSZEITUNG/SONNTAGSBLICK: The 38-year-old German killed by police on Wednesday in Wallisellen (ZH) was said to have been in close contact with conspiracy theorists and people convinced that the earth is flat, reports Le Matin Dimanche, citing AFP. The police suspected him of being the author of a brief kidnapping at the end of March of a known German-speaking infectious disease specialist. When the police wanted to arrest him, the man suddenly pulled out a gun and fired, killing a 28-year-old young woman, who was probably his partner. Officers returned fire, fatally wounding the suspect.
Police have arrested another man in connection with the case, a business partner of the German. According to the SonntagsBlick, the 34-year-old is an anti-vaxxer. Pictures show him demonstrating against health restrictions on June 20, 2021 in Liestal (BL). According to the NZZ am Sonntag, other personalities who were in the limelight during the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic received information on how they should behave in the face of threats. More and more people who are publicly exposed are receiving threats, notes the SonntagsZeitung.
Paternity leave cheaper than expected
SUNDAY MORNING: The two-week paternity leave, accepted by the Swiss in September 2020, costs half as much as expected, assures Le Matin Dimanche. While the Federal Social Insurance Office (OFAS) expected an expenditure of 198 million at the end of 2021, only 98 million have been paid so far for 42,000 fathers. The office warns, however, that these figures should be taken with a grain of salt, because the file is new. As there was no comparison available, “we therefore assumed that 100% of new fathers would use it”. Fathers can also take their ten days off within six months of the birth. As the payment of the allowance does not take place until after the last day of leave has been taken, the total corresponding to the births of 2021 will not be known until July 2022, adds the OFAS.