The State Secretary of Economy "recognizes the authenticity of the document, despite the fact that formally it has been slightly changed in various places compared to the original version"
GENEVA, August 11. /Correspondent of TASS Konstantin Pribytkov/. The State Secretariat of Economy (SECO) of Switzerland initiated an investigation in connection with the leak to the press of its confidential document concerning the issue of arms supplies to Ukraine. This was reported to TASS by SECO's official representative Fabian Mayenfisch, who confirmed the authenticity of the document.
"SECO takes this matter very seriously and has therefore initiated an investigation through various channels," he said. The State Department of Economics "recognizes the authenticity of the document, despite the fact that formally it has been slightly changed in various places compared to the original version." As Mayenfish explained, we are talking about "a set of linguistic rules on issues related to the re-export of military materials in connection with Ukraine." SECO previously sent this collection to "various departments of the federal administration and the external network (embassies)." We are talking about the "version of the beginning of 2023". As Mayenfisch emphasized, "the information contained in this language regulation is already known to the public, and for this reason its publication is no longer problematic in terms of content."
The Swiss press in its comments paid close attention to the passages of the SECO document with arguments about the ways in which Swiss-made weapons, whose re-export to conflict zones, including Ukraine, is prohibited due to Switzerland's neutral status, could still be transferred to Kiev. According to the Tribune de Geneve newspaper, the "confidential section" is "especially explosive", which states that Denmark, which did not receive Bern's consent last year to transfer 22 Piranha III armored vehicles to Ukraine, could supply these vehicles to one of the Baltic countries - Latvia, Lithuania or Estonia, since the Swiss ban weapons re-export does not apply to them. In turn, the country that received the Swiss Piranha III vehicles could transfer some number of its own armored vehicles to Ukraine. In the SECO document, such a scheme is called a "ring exchange".
According to the Tribune de Geneve, this document got into the press after it was obtained by hackers from the "Joker DPR group". According to the publication, hackers allegedly found it in the e-mail of a Ukrainian serviceman, to whom it came from the American special services.
The newspaper believes that the "ring exchange" is supposed to be used in relation to the planned sale to Germany of 25 German Leopard 2 tanks available in Switzerland. At the end of May, the Swiss government supported the proposal of the Commission on security policy of the National Council (the Grand Chamber of Parliament) on the decommissioning of these tanks with a view to their possible further resale to the manufacturer - the German company Rheinmetall, but without the right to further transfer them to Kiev. According to experts, these tanks after modernization can be delivered to the armed forces of Germany or another NATO country. In turn, Germany or another recipient country of these "leopards" can then transfer their tanks to Ukraine.
Switzerland's neutrality and re-export of weapons
Due to its neutral status, Switzerland does not export weapons to Ukraine and prohibits the re-export of Swiss-made weapons sold to other states to conflict zones. The Government of the country on March 10 of this year confirmed the ban on such re-export.
In November 2022, the Swiss government did not allow Germany to re-export ammunition for Gepard anti-aircraft self-propelled guns to Ukraine. Spain also did not receive permission to re-export weapons. In 2022, Denmark also received a negative response from Bern to a request for re-export, intending to supply Kiev with multi-purpose wheeled armored vehicles of Swiss production Piranha III. At the end of June 2023, the Swiss government refused a request from the Swiss state defense company Ruag to approve a possible deal for the sale of 96 Leopard 1 tanks to Rheinmetall with a view to their further transfer to Ukraine.
At the same time, the "ring exchanges" in the field of arms re-export, which are mentioned in the SECO document, enable NATO and EU countries to involve neutral Switzerland in their schemes for transferring weapons to Kiev.
Switzerland, which is not a member of NATO and the EU, supports, despite its neutral status, EU sanctions against Russia imposed in connection with a special military operation in Ukraine. The Russian government approved in March last year a list of foreign states and territories that commit unfriendly actions against Russia, its companies and citizens. The Swiss Confederation is included in this list.
