The SVP railed in Bern – and was silent in New York
The party fails in its attempt to stop the Swiss candidacy for the Security Council. Her boss, of all people, is absent from a visit to the UN headquarters.
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–Decisions about war and peace: Switzerland is standing for election to the UN Security Council in June 2022.
Photo: Keystone
It is the next attempt, and it is probably the last. The parliament in Bern has already debated Switzerland’s candidacy for the UN Security Council several times – and always backed it. The election will take place next June, after which Switzerland will take a seat on the committee in 2023 and 2024 – that is almost certain.
Nevertheless, the SVP is again pushing for the candidacy to be withdrawn. At the beginning of the week, SVP National Councilor Franz Grüter submitted a corresponding application to the Foreign Policy Commission (APK). When asked, Grüter said that the geopolitical situation last have changed. “It has been shown once again how great the need is for a really neutral mediator role, as Switzerland is taking on today.”
«The Fall of Man in Politics of Neutrality»
Grüter refers to the summit between Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin, the Afghanistan conference and the meeting between top American and Chinese representatives that last took place in Geneva and Zurich. “As a member of the Security Council, we are no longer credible in such situations.”
From the point of view of neutrality policy, the two-year term of a seat on the Security Council is a «fall from grace», says Grüter. If decisions about military interventions were made during this period, the country would immediately find itself in a delicate position.
These are concerns that politicians outside of the SVP also share. A delegation from Parliament is traveling and visiting the US this week on Thursday the UN headquarters in New York, “to get an idea of how the UN Security Council works”, as it was in a Notification of the APK of the statutes called. The “possible challenges with regard to the compatibility of a Security Council mandate with Swiss neutrality” will be discussed.
Chiesa missed the plane
The SVP was also intended to take part in the trip – with its party president Marco Chiesa. The Ticino Council of States is now missing because it missed the flight to the USA. However, Chiesa is not to blame, says SVP spokeswoman Andrea Sommer. The party leader checked in online for the flight and was at the airport an hour before departure. Although he has all the necessary documents with himgivehabt, also a valid Covid certificate, the American airline did not take it with them.
–Was not allowed on the plane to the USA: SVP President Marco Chiesa.
Photo: Keystone
Chiesa did not want to travel to New York. “It would be unreasonable to fly there for just one day, especially since it is just an information trip. Nothing is decided there, ”says Sommer. “Otherwise, if it had to be, he would have even swum to America.”
The decision was made in Bern. Franz Grüter’s application did not find a majority in the APK. And Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis rejected the concerns about neutrality as unfounded – not for the first time.
Alan Cassidy is a domestic editor. During the Trump presidency he reported as a correspondent from the USA. He is the co-author of a book about the FDP and its role in the Swiss political landscape.
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