Two divisional officers fail the security check
Published: Thursday, Jul 4th 2024, 18:10
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Two Swiss Army divisional officers have failed the federal government's personal security check within a month. During the check, which is carried out regularly every three to five years, the Federal Chancellery, which is responsible for this, no longer granted them a security clearance.
The army confirmed a corresponding report in the online editions of the Tamedia newspapers on Thursday. As army spokesman Stefan Hofer explained at the request of the Keystone-SDA news agency, the latest case concerns Divisional Commander Guy Vallat.
The 56-year-old Jura native has been Defense Attaché at the Swiss Embassy in Paris since 1 September 2021. He will resign from his post on July 15. According to Hofer, the army is in the process of clarifying his situation in terms of employment law.
On 10 June, the Defense Group announced the resignation of Divisional Officer Mathias Tüscher, Commander of Territorial Division 1. The officer from western Switzerland was leaving the professional military corps at the end of October "at his own request", according to a communiqué. The communiqué was silent on the reason. As the army has now confirmed, he did not receive the security clearance either.
According to Hofer, the reasons for not obtaining a security clearance are individual. Regular personal security checks and security clearance are mandatory for all top federal managers, including senior staff officers.
They are a prerequisite for holding offices such as military attaché. The Federal Chancellery carries out the checks at regular intervals.
©Keystone/SDA
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