Diplomatic Briefing
Your exclusive news aggregator handpicked daily!Archive for Switzerland
Newsline: Diplomats from 200 nations meet in Switzerland to discuss Climate Change’s report
Diplomats from nearly 200 nations and top climate scientists began a week-long huddle in Switzerland on Monday to distil nearly a decade of published science into a 20-odd-page warning about the existential danger of global warming and what to do about it. The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s synthesis report — to be released on March 20 — will detail observed and projected changes in Earth’s climate system; past and future impacts such as devastating heatwaves, flooding and rising seas; and ways to halt the carbon pollution pushing Earth toward an unliveable state. “It’s a massive moment, seven years since the Paris Agreement and nine years since the last IPCC assessment report,” Greenpeace Nordic senior policy advisor Kaisa Kosonen, an official observer at IPCC meetings, told AFP. (https://news.yahoo.com/governments-vet-crucial-un-climate-105326400.html) Since its creation in 1988, the IPCC — an intergovernmental body staffed by hundreds of scientists who work for it on a volunteer basis — has released six three-part assessments, the most recent in 2021-2022.
Newsline: Global Conference on Bioweapons Faces Risks Related to Russia and Ukraine
Hundreds of diplomats and health security experts are gathering in Geneva to grapple with the increasing risk that viruses, bacteria and other pathogens could be used as weapons. But Russia’s presence threatens to undercut their efforts. Russia’s campaign alleging that the US has supported secret biological weapons laboratories in Ukraine is likely to undermine negotiations at a conference geared toward strengthening the Biological Weapons Convention, the first global disarmament treaty that sought to ban an entire category of weapons of mass destruction. (https://news.yahoo.com/russia-ukraine-claims-risk-thwarting-050100451.html) For the first time in six years, representatives from the US, Russia, China and other countries are gathering at Geneva’s Palais des Nations starting Monday to review the treaty, which is seen as lacking the geopolitical and scientific muscle needed to verify whether nations have violated it. But health security experts say they fear that Russia will use the three-week conference as a platform to again peddle contentions intended to sow distrust in the US and Ukraine.
Newsline: Swiss police used rubber bullets against protesters at Iranian embassy in Bern
Swiss police used rubber bullets to disperse protesters in front of the Iranian Embassy in Bern after two men climbed over the embassy’s fence and pulled down the Iranian flag from a flagpole in the yard. Police said late Saturday that nobody was injured and that the “large crowd” of protesters was dispersed after the use of rubber bullets. The two protesters who entered the embassy’s grounds were detained, according to police in the Swiss capital. (https://www.daytondailynews.com/nation-world/swiss-police-violently-disperse-anti-iranian-protests/) Police said they used rubber bullets after several other protesters at the unauthorized demonstration tried following the two men who had first entered the embassy’s yard and also attempted to access the premises. It wasn’t immediately clear if more protesters were detained. Outside of Iran, thousands of protesters have also staged demonstrations in European countries and expressed anger over the treatment of women and wider repression in the Islamic Republic.
Newsline: Switzerland summons China’s ambassador
Switzerland has summoned the Chinese ambassador to express concern about the human rights situation in the western region of Xinjiang, the foreign ministry in Bern said on Thursday. “Switzerland is convinced that the best way to safeguard its interests and the respect of fundamental rights is to conduct a critical and constructive dialogue with Beijing,” the ministry said, confirming a report by the SDA news agency. (https://news.yahoo.com/swiss-summon-chinese-ambassador-press-072938280.html) The ministry cited a report last week by the United Nations human rights commissioner that China’s “arbitrary and discriminatory detention” of Uyghurs and other Muslims in Xinjiang may constitute crimes against humanity. China’s foreign ministry has denied the allegations and described the U.N. report as “completely illegal and void”. The Chinese embassy did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. Neutral Switzerland has walked a diplomatic tightrope with Beijing, playing down prospects for embracing Western sanctions against China over its human rights record as Bern pursues a “special path” with a major trade partner.
Newsline: Nigerians in Switzerland complain over alleged corruption at embassy
Nigerian Youth Movement of Switzerland has written a petition letter to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to demand a probe into alleged corrupt practices by officials of the Nigerian Embassy in Bern. The group in a petition signed by its youth leader, Irydaer Omobude, titled: ‘The Nigerian Embassy in Bern is stinking in corruption’ urged the federal government to recall the Ambassador, Baba Madugu and Mrs. Kemi Amuda back to Nigeria with immediate effect. Petition reads: “The embassy in Bern under Ambassador Baba Madugu uses the swiss police to intimidate, threaten, coarse, and violently remove Nigerians on appointment at the embassy whenever they request for passport or other services which they paid for” “The Nigerian embassy in Bern receives a monthly salary for a security officer that is never employed who then receives this monthly salary” “Many contracts and purchases are highly inflated with the active participation of third parties.” (https://guardian.ng/news/nigerians-in-switzerland-petition-efcc-sgf-ministry-over-alleged-corruption-in-embassy/) The group noted that it had notified the Nigerian embassy in Bern of these acts in a letter dated 24 January 2020 but regretted that till date, the embassy has not replied to the letter. Instead, decided to introduce a closed-door policy against the community, calling the Swiss police at random to harass Nigerians from coming to the embassy.
Newsline: Swiss Embassy renovation in Washington criticised
The renovations of the chancery office building in the United States capital are too expensive, finds the Swiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO). In a report released on Monday, the SFAO stated that it was unhappy with the scale, cost and transparency of the project. The historical building is located at 2900 Cathedral Avenue NW, in Washington, DC. According to the audit report, no substantive analysis of the building’s potential was conducted for this project. Furthermore, the change of scale from a maintenance project to a comprehensive renovation project cannot be conclusively explained, says the SFAO. There was also criticism that the new concept is much bigger than the space utilisation programme drawn up by the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA). (https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/audit-criticises-swiss-embassy-renovation-in-washington/45853232) Another issue raised was the steep rise in cost which had doubled in three years during the preliminary project phase. Between 2015 and 2018, the project expanded from a CHF7 million (around $7.4 million) undertaking to a CHF14 million one – the amount for which a loan is currently being requested.
Newsline: Suspect in Egyptian diplomat murder case released
Switzerland’s highest tribunal has released a man suspected of the murder of an Egyptian diplomat in Geneva in 1995, according to French-language newspaper Le Temps. The Lausanne-based Federal Supreme Court decided on Monday that the charges against the 49-year-old man are insufficient to justify the continuation of the pre-trial detention ordered 18 months ago. (https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/fruitless-investigations-_suspect-in-egyptian-diplomat-murder-case-released-/45773732) The suspicions were based on traces of DNA and statements by an ex-girlfriend who had allegedly received information in confidence from the defendant’s brother. But the court said investigative efforts had not yielded the tangible results that would justify keeping the suspect in custody. On November 13, 1995, a permanent adviser of the Egyptian Mission to the United Nations was shot dead by several bullets in the basement of his building in Geneva. The police found a home-made silencer. In 2007, new analysis methods revealed the DNA profiles of four people – three men and one woman. In 2018, investigators determined that one of these profiles matched the male suspect. The remaining DNA was not identified. The 40-year-old was taken into custody and charged with murder or assassination. The Swiss attorney general later levelled the same charges against the suspect’s brother.
Newsline: Iran summons Swiss ambassador amid warnings it will destroy US warships
Iran has summoned the Swiss ambassador in Tehran, who represents US interests in the country, over recent Gulf tensions, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said, according to the IRIB news agency. The ambassador was given a message to pass on to the United States that Iran will strongly defend its maritime rights in the Gulf and respond to any threats. (https://www.france24.com/en/20200423-iran-summons-swiss-ambassador-amid-warnings-it-will-destroy-us-warships) Iran warned it will destroy US warships if its security is threatened in the Gulf, the head of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards told state TV on Thursday, a day after US President Donald Trump warned Tehran over “harassment” of US vessels. Trump said on Wednesday he had instructed the US Navy to fire on any Iranian ships that harass it at sea, but said later he was not changing the military’s rules of engagement. Earlier this month, the US military said 11 Revolutionary Guards naval vessels from the Guards navy came close to US Navy and coast guard ships in the Gulf, calling the moves “dangerous and provocative”.
Newsline: How coronavirus has changed life at Swiss embassies
As many activities around the world have shut down because of coronavirus, diplomats have been working overtime to get their nationals home, often in difficult circumstances. “This global crisis is unprecedented and is therefore uncharted territory for everyone,” writes Swiss Ambassador to France Livia Leu Agosti. In the past weeks, she has been dealing almost exclusively with the coronavirus crisis, “on the one hand with its effects on our fellow citizens abroad, and on the other hand with the changes in bilateral cooperation across the border”. At the same time, the embassy’s internal procedures have had to be continually adapted, she says. Almost all embassy staff now work from home, except for her and a few other employees. She says Swiss consuls in Marseille, Lyon and Strasbourg as well as Paris have “worked with their teams seven days a week to answer the hundreds of inquiries and to facilitate the return journey of Swiss citizens”. “The pandemic is having a major impact on my daily life as an ambassador, but also on the lives of all embassy staff,” writes Ambassador Guillaume Scheurer in Morocco. “It is almost like a revolution, in the sense that we have had to completely rethink our way of working and our way of communicating both internally and externally.” Swiss nationals living in Morocco have also offered accommodation for stranded compatriots, since many hotels have closed their doors. “I have already experienced several crisis situations, but never a crisis of this magnitude, of global dimension, with a completely open time horizon,” says Swiss Ambassador to India Andreas Baum. The crisis has changed the life of the embassy overnight, with the focus now is on finding stranded Swiss nationals “in a country that is not only huge but is in a total lockdown” and somehow getting them home. Except for the dedicated special flights team, embassy staff are now working from home, and all meetings take place by phone or online. Baum says this is a completely new experience for him because he usually prefers to “meet face to face to discuss things or exchange written information”. (https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/covid-19-diplomacy_how-coronavirus-has-changed-life-at-swiss-embassies/45677566) Answers came from two ambassadors who job share: Pedro Zwahlen, who is responsible for Australia; and Yasmine Chatila Zwahlen, who is responsible for Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Nauru, Vanuatu and Kiribati. Swiss travellers in these areas are often particularly adventurous, they write. If travellers remain “blocked in the most remote areas of the world”, things can quickly become “somewhat complicated”. “In mid-March we divided the Canberra team into two shifts, working alternately in the embassy offices,” they write. “This increases the chance that not everyone will fall ill at the same time, should a colleague become infected. Those who do not work in the office work online. Apart from some chronic Internet problems, this works quite well, even if we miss the daily exchange during the coffee break.”
Newsline: Germany, France, Switzerland close North Korea missions amid coronavirus concern
Germany, France and Switzerland closed their missions in North Korea and withdrew their staff on Monday amid growing concern in the isolated country about the spread of the coronavirus, the Russian embassy in Pyongyang said. The Russian embassy said a plane belonging to North Korea’s Air Koryo airline carrying 80 foreign diplomats, businessmen and relief workers left Pyongyang for the southeastern Russian city of Vladivostok. Among them were the “full composition” of officials from Germany, France and Switzerland, all of which temporarily suspended work in Pyongyang, the embassy said. Thirteen of its own employees and their family members, 35 relief workers and an unspecified number of businessmen also left. (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-northkorea/germany-france-switzerland-close-north-korea-missions-amid-coronavirus-concern-idUSKBN20W0HL) The group includes “Polish, Romanian, Mongolian, Egyptian diplomats and their families who decided to wait out the quarantine in their homeland”, the embassy said on Facebook. Britain’s ambassador to North Korea, Colin Crooks, said earlier in the day that his German and French colleagues were leaving, though he did not specify why. “Sad to say farewell this morning to colleagues from German Embassy and French Office in North Korea which are closing temporarily,” Crooks said on Twitter. “British Embassy remains open.” Germany has an embassy in North Korea. France does not have formal diplomatic relations with North Korea but runs an office there to foster exchanges. Spokesmen for the French and German embassies in South Korea were not immediately available for comment.
Diplomatic Briefing 