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UKRAINE

Switzerland to strengthen military cooperation with the US

At a press conference in Washington on Friday, Swiss Defence Minister Viola Amherd said that Switzerland should cooperate more closely with the US and western defence alliance NATO. 

Published: 14 May 2022 16:48 CEST
Swiss Defence Minister Viola Amherd attends a press conference in Bern in 2020.
Swiss Defence Minister Viola Amherd attends a press conference in Bern in 2020. Photo: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP

The head of the Swiss Government’s Department of Defence, Viola Amherd, told a media briefing in Washington on Friday that Switzerland must strengthen international cooperation, including with the United States. 

Amherd, who has been on a five-day working visit to the USA, said that the war in Ukraine is a massive and brutal violation of international law and must not be tolerated. When it comes to fundamental principles such as freedom, democracy, and the right to self-determination, Switzerland must work more closely with like-minded countries including the US, Amherd said. 

READ ALSO: OPINION: Switzerland’s neutrality not immune to impacts of Ukraine invasion

The Swiss politician also discussed how the security environment in Europe has changed following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks. Hicks reiterated that the US strongly supports the sale of 36 F-35 fighter aircraft and five “Patriot” ground-based air defence systems to Switzerland.

The deal, she said, builds on a successful security partnership between the US and Switzerland that has lasted for decades, and not only enhances Switzerland’s defence capabilities but also increases interoperability and cooperation with other European partners and the United States.

Amherd also said that Switzerland can and should move even closer to NATO. 

“We still have some room for manoeuvre, even within the framework of neutral law, which allows us to cooperate more closely with NATO and also with our European partners,” Amherd said. 

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UKRAINE

Swiss pull out the stops for Ukraine summit security

Switzerland is undertaking a major security operation around this weekend's summit on Ukraine, aiming to ward off not only physical threats but also cyberattacks and misinformation.

Published: 14 June 2024 08:56 CEST
Swiss pull out the stops for Ukraine summit security

With dozens of heads of state and government flying in for the gathering at the swanky Burgenstock resort overlooking Lake Lucerne, up to 4,000 troops are being deployed and a ring of steel has been put in place.

Around 6.5 kilometres of fencing and eight kilometres of barbed wire is going up, while the valley behind the exclusive hotel complex has been turned into a temporary military heliport.

“An event on this scale requires comprehensive protective measures,” Swiss President Viola Amherd said ahead of the summit.

High on a mountain ridge, surrounded by water on three sides, the Burgenstock is relatively straightforward to seal off.

More than 400 local residents with homes and farms beyond the checkpoint need a special pass to access the “red zone”.

Despite the event’s international importance, security responsibility falls to the tiny rural canton of Nidwalden.

The fifth-smallest of Switzerland’s 26 cantons in terms of both size and population, Nidwalden has just 45,000 residents.

Mud and helicopters 

The military will protect infrastructure, provide air transport and reconnaissance, conduct surveillance and interventions on the lake, and offer logistics and command support.

Soldiers have for days been taking position on the winding turns on the road up to the Burgenstock.
Overlooked by cattle with their cowbells clanging, the heliport was built with metal trackway on a squelching field.

Big enough to accommodate five helicopters, it is surrounded by a double layer of steel fencing and barbed wire.

“The army has the ability to set up a temporary take-off and landing zone anywhere in the country,” said Major General Daniel Keller, commander of the Swiss army’s Territorial Division 2, which encompasses Nidwalden.

“The foreign ministry decides which people fly from here and to here. The army provides the infrastructure,” he told reporters this week.

He said the armed forces were accustomed to maintaining air sovereignty.

“Federal law clearly alludes to the possibility of shooting down an aircraft,” he said, while remaining tight-lipped on potential threats such as drones.

“I am tense but I’m confident we can master this.”

The Swiss intelligence services will also work to identify and prevent threats.

Mindful of potential nuclear, biological and chemical threats, specialists will intensify the monitoring of radioactive emission levels in the area, authorities said.

Cyberattacks, ‘extreme’ misinformation 

Besides potential physical threats, Switzerland is also dealing with attacks in cyberspace and a deluge of misinformation surrounding the event.

Russia, which invaded Ukraine in 2022, is not attending the summit.

Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis said there was “an obvious interest in disturbing the smooth running of the conference”.

He said there had been an increase in misinformation, including “hysterical broadcasts or offensive broadcasts, even as far as fake news”.

Amherd said the misinformation was “so extreme it’s clear that very little of this information is in line with reality”.

A first wave of distributed denial-of-service attacks on government websites and organisations involved in the summit began on Thursday.

DDoS attacks make websites or network resources unavailable by flooding them with malicious traffic.

“The attacks were expected and are presumed to be in connection with the summit. They resulted in minor outages,” said the National Cyber Security Centre.

It has set up an emergency centre for technical analyses and a communications platform for reporting “cyber-threat developments” during the summit.

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