That train ride could cost an army staff officer dearly. In the crowded commuter train from Bern to Zurich, he is said to have not only chatted loudly on the phone about the Swiss military’s assessments of the Ukraine war. At the same time, he also blasphemed about Defense Minister Viola Amherd (59) and Federal President Ignazio Cassis (61). His bad luck: a journalist from CHMedia was sitting next to him. And he diligently took notes.
The officer is said to have said on the phone that Russian President Vladimir Putin (69) was not an irrational actor from the point of view of the Swiss army. With the failed strategy to quickly overthrow Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (44), he took a calculated risk. That didn’t pay off though. But according to “our assessment”, quoted CHMedia the officer, Putin is quite capable of adapting his strategy to the changed conditions.
“Amherd and Cassis are weak figures”
Then the man pulls off the leather through Secretary of Defense Amherd and Secretary of State Cassis. Both he described to his interlocutor as “weak figures” who would “crawl in a snow globe” in the crisis and only gather a “kitchen cabinet” around them and would only listen to its members.
In a second phone call, the gossip is also said to have chatted openly from the school. He reported on his conversation with Christian Lanz, the Swiss defense attaché in Stockholm. He spoke to him about the ongoing debates in Finland and Sweden about joining NATO. He will use this to create a report for the top federal security adviser, Pälvi Pulli.
“Intolerable violations”
That doesn’t go over well with the army. After all, there are clear rules for employees of the federal administration. “Should the behavior described apply, there would be various breaches of the rules that are intolerable,” army spokesman Daniel Reist is quoted as saying. “Negative statements about superiors in public by employees are also unacceptable.”
A formal questioning of the relevant officer had been initiated. This is followed either by a disciplinary investigation or by personnel law measures – from a warning to immediate dismissal.
It is still unclear whether the army staff member disclosed classified information, army spokesman Reist is quoted as saying. However, the Federal Personnel Ordinance obliges all federal employees to maintain secrecy “about professional and business matters that are to be kept secret by their nature or due to legal provisions or instructions”.
Employees in the army administration in particular are also regularly made aware of information and data protection. This includes the instruction to take “appropriate measures against wiretapping” when secret information is passed on orally. (dba)