Swiss parliamentarian wants all Russian banks to be disconnected from SWIFT

18.09.2022 16:20

Ukrinform

Swiss lawmaker, member of the Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee Nicolas Walder, commenting on the issue of selective disconnection of Russian banks from the SWIFT system (as of today, only seven banks have been sanctioned), said that all Russian banks should be subjected to such disconnection, while Russia sanctions in general should be further strengthened.

The Swiss politician made the corresponding statement in an interview with Guildhall, as seen by Ukrinform.

Answering a question of whether all Russian banks should be barred from access to SWIFT, the lawmaker said “absolutely.”

“I believe that we should resort to tougher measures, tougher sanctions,” said Nicolas Walder.

“The problem with the Swiss law is that Switzerland can only support sanctions that have been adopted by the UN, the OSCE, or our main partner, which is the EU. We can only join EU sanctions but can’t add our own. If a bank is not on the EU list, Switzerland cannot impose sanctions, although we have tried to change the law, but it is yet to be introduced. But yes, I believe that we should extend the measures,” the parliamentarian said.

“I stand of expanding sanctions, I think we should include all the banks, all oligarchs, and I also support the ban on issuing visas to all Russians in principle, unless they are opponents of the regime,” summed up the Swiss politician.

It should be noted that, according to a study by the Center for Defense Reforms, today only seven Russian banks have been disconnected from the SWIFT system. All other banks continue to operate as usual.

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