Fri, Feb 24th 2023
For one year Russia and Ukraine have been at war, pushing Switzerland to wrestle with its neutrality.
The Swiss government will send 140 million Swiss francs to Ukraine and Moldova, should parliament approve of the humanitarian aid package in the coming days.
“Russia’s military attack against Ukraine on February 24, 2022, marked a paradigm shift in the continent’s recent history,” the government said in a statement. “The Federal Council reiterates its condemnation of the attack in the strongest possible terms and calls for the cessation of hostilities and withdrawal of Russian troops from the entire territory of Ukraine.”
Such financial support is needed “to improve the precarious situation of the people in Ukraine and to ensure the functioning of the state,” the Swiss government said.
Of the CHF 140 million, 114 million would go to Ukraine and CHF 26 million for the Republic of Moldova. About CHF 50 million of the planned aid is already available through a government loan and the rest remains to be approved by Parliament.
“It is a targeted response to the needs and requests from both countries in areas where Switzerland has specific expertise,” according to the government. The funds will go to “shelter for schools, repairs to hospitals and energy infrastructure,” as well as psychosocial support for the population and “small loans” for agriculture.
Since the start of the war, Switzerland has allocated 1.3 billion Swiss francs for humanitarian aid for Ukraine. About CHF 270 million is earmarked for Ukrainians still in Ukraine and more than CHF 1 billion is intended for Ukrainians who are now in Switzerland. Nearly 75,000 Ukrainians have been given refuge in Switzerland over the past year (Read more: Why the Swiss labor market is failing Ukrainians).
The Swiss government has also said it supports the International Criminal Court’s investigation into whether Russia has violated humanitarian law.
How many Swiss nationals have joined Ukraine in the fight? The Swiss military is investigating.
Meanwhile, several Swiss nationals are currently under criminal investigation for having taken part in combat in the Russo-Ukrainian conflict as volunteer fighters of mercenaries, local newspaper Blick reports.
A spokesperson for the Office of Attorney General announced this week that the Swiss military’s justice department has at least seven criminal proceedings under way. Under the country’s military law, serving as a mercenary is punishable with a fine or up to three years in prison. That said, such investigations are difficult to conduct while countries are at war so it is unclear if the proceedings will ever be completed.
Before Russia invaded Ukraine, the military justice department initiated three such proceedings in Ukraine. In one instance, a Ticino man was fined for joining pro-Russian separatists in the Donetsk region in 2015, according to SWI Swiss Info. One case is pending and the third was dropped.
The suspects in the cases must be given the right to be heard and defend themselves; which, can be difficult if they do not return to Switzerland.
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