Switzerland-USA
A pain in the ass on Biden’s behalf: Scott Miller is Switzerland’s most conspicuous diplomat
He frightened the sedate city of Bern with fireworks and the Swiss financial center with undiplomatic demands: US Ambassador Scott Miller is letting it explode again shortly before the US elections.
“Switzerland can and must do more”: US Ambassador Scott Miller, left, with partner Tim Gill at the opening of the Zurich Film Festival.
Image: Severin Bigler / CH Media (Zurich, September 28, 2023)
The next day, the local station “Telebärn” reported on it. The police director has to explain himself, and dog residents complain about the racket: On the evening of July 1, 2022, a huge, minute-long fireworks display will go off over Bern. The firecrackers shake the windows – and an entire city asks itself: What’s going on?
The short answer: Scott Miller is there. The slightly longer one: The new ambassador sent by President Joe Biden celebrates the US national holiday in the garden of his residence with several hundred guests – on July 1st instead of July 4th. Perhaps the explanation is correct that it would be better to celebrate such a festival on Friday evening rather than on Monday.
However, it is quite possible that Ambassador Miller and his partner, the billionaire Tim Gill, deliberately scheduled the celebration for July 1st – the day on which marriage is introduced for everyone in Switzerland. Tim Gill and Scott Miller were already well-known LGBT activists in the USA. Miller said to “Schweizer Illustrierte”, which reported on the party: “I am very pleased that same-sex marriage is being introduced in Switzerland today, on the day of our celebration.”
With the spectacle, the then 43-year-old former UBS banker and business economist catapulted himself into the public consciousness. It’s just the first of several hits that Miller will set off in Bern.
He arrived in Switzerland in January. Sent by Joe Biden to thank his extremely wealthy husband for generously supporting his election campaign. Bern as a reward for campaign millions is a tradition in US politics. This was also the case with Miller’s predecessor, Edward McMullen. McMullen was an entrepreneur, Miller is an activist. Neither had had anything to do with diplomacy before.
The metaphor of the hole in the donut is born
This quickly becomes apparent with Miller. Just a month after his arrival in Bern, war broke out in Russia. And from then on it won’t be long before Washington and Bern come to blows. It takes a call from the US State Department to the foreign ministry in Bern for the Federal Council to take over the Russia sanctions.
It is not known what role Miller played in these hours. One thing is certain: With the outbreak of war, the priorities for the US ambassador have been set. Unlike his predecessors, who kept hopes of a free trade agreement with the USA simmering in friendly interviews and whispered hints, Miller puts uncomfortable topics on his agenda: sanctions and neutrality policy. Pain points in Swiss domestic politics.
“Neutrality cannot mean not intervening anywhere,” he said in the “NZZ am Sonntag” in April 2022: By adopting the sanctions, Switzerland did not give up neutrality, but rather “actively interpreted it and found a way for the basic values of a democracy and stand up for human rights.” That sounds comparatively friendly, but it is not well received in the country, which is currently engaged in a heated debate about arms deliveries.
Miller doesn’t let that deter him. On the contrary, the next bang follows. It was nice if Switzerland had frozen Russian assets worth over 7.75 billion francs, he said in a remarkable interview in the NZZ in March 2023, but it could block “an additional 50 to 100 billion.” Sanctions are “only as strong as the political will behind them”. In other words: Switzerland doesn’t do enough because it doesn’t want to. And once underway, Miller formulates the metaphor that is now part of the Swiss political vocabulary: “NATO is, in a sense, a donut – and Switzerland is the hole in the middle.”
It is now clear to everyone: Miller is not a diplomat, he is an activist. In the comment columns, blood pressure rises to heart attack levels. Politicians are calling on Foreign Minister Cassis to summon the American.
The US ambassador himself follows up unimpressed: In a letter with the ambassadors from Japan, Canada, Germany, France, Great Britain and Italy, the G7, he calls on the Federal Council to search more deeply for Russian oligarchs’ money and to join the international task force created for this purpose . Of course the letter will be made public.
Now it’s about the reputation of the Swiss financial center. Bern reacts: Switzerland is fulfilling its international obligations and the black sheep are being consistently pursued. The responsible authority will be strengthened, as will cooperation with the G7. At the same time, diplomatic restraint on the Swiss side is crumbling. Miller is a “pain in the ass.” It is “more than questionable” whether his actions were coordinated with Washington, it is said behind closed doors.
It is also about competition between financial centers
Memories are awakened: of the American lobbying for dormant assets, the lost battle over banking secrecy. As back then, the spirit of resistance is stirring in middle-class circles. Reference is made to the porous laws in states like Delaware, home of President Biden. There is a metaphor for this too: “When Miller points his finger at Switzerland, three fingers point at himself.” Not us, the others too – it’s about location politics.
Of course, the balance of power speaks in favor of the American Miller. He projects a Swiss cross onto his embassy on August 1st. “Let us honor the rich history and solid partnership between our nations,” he wrote on Instagram. But shortly before the US elections, he let it rip for a third time.
Two Swiss men are said to have helped Russians evade US sanctions. “Switzerland can and must do more” and “close loopholes in its legislation to combat money laundering,” says Miller – while parliamentarians in the Federal Parliament are discussing exactly this. It is the fireworker’s last firecracker in the US residence before the successor to the president who sent him to Bern almost three years ago is elected.
