“In Europe, Switzerland is one of the states with the highest numbers of Russian intelligence officers operating under diplomatic cover, in part due to its role as a host to international organisations,” stated a press release on Switzerland’s Security 2023 report published on Monday.
The report warns that the threat to Switzerland has increased ever since it assumed membership of the United Nations (UN) Security Council this year. The peacemaking abilities of international organisations like the UN or the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has continued to decline and there are no signs of a stable new world order, it said.
“China and Russia want to transform the status quo of existing institutions, rules and norms,” warn the report’s authors.
Russia’s war against Ukraine will remain the focal point of Switzerland’s security environment. Swiss intelligence aims to prevent the movement of goods to Russia that could be used for sanctioned military activities. New regions like the Eurasian Economic Union, Turkey and India are now on the radar of intelligence officials because of strategic Russian procurement.
Wagner coup attempt
The abortive mutiny in Russia on Saturday has also captured the attention of the Swiss intelligence community.
“Our services have been monitoring the situation closely throughout the weekend,” said Christian Dussey, head of the Swiss Federal Intelligence Service, at a press conference on Monday. “We are now in a phase of de-escalation, but the rebellion led by Evgeni Prigojine and his Wagner group represents a significant development.”
But it is too early to pass judgement, he said, as many players are waiting to see how the tide will turn. Dussey made a comparison with the events of 1991 (the attempted putsch against Mikhail Gorbachev) and 1993 (Boris Yeltsin’s march on the Russian parliament). In both cases, the result was a clear strengthening of the state apparatus.
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