Diplomatic Briefing
Your exclusive news aggregator handpicked daily!Archive for Switzerland
Newsline: Swiss embassy won’t get involved in US congresswoman citizenship
The Swiss embassy in Washington is refusing to answer any questions about Thursday’s decision by Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) to renounce her Swiss nationality. “The Embassy of Switzerland in Washington DC confirms that the Swiss Consulate in Chicago has received by e-mail a letter signed by Congresswoman Michele Bachmann asking that her Swiss citizenship be withdrawn,” reads a statement on the embassy’s website. “The Embassy does not comment on this private decision by Mrs. Bachmann.” Bachmann became a Swiss citizen on March 19 after her husband of 34 years, Marcus Bachmann, registered for the Swiss citizenship he’s entitled to as the son of Swiss nationals. The decision was prompted by Bachmann’s children’s decision to seek dual nationality, but it created a firestorm in the right-wing blogosphere after Swiss TV broke the story this week. “As Ms. Bachmann liked to brag about during the debates, she has been a member of the House Intelligence Committee,” Examiner conservative columnist Lori Stacey wrote Thursday. ”Again, our Founding Fathers must have just done flip-flops in their graves. All Americans should have a problem with any member of Congress, especially one on the House Intelligence Committee running out and becoming a citizen of another country.”
http://thehill.com/blogs/global-affairs/congressional-delegations/226927-swiss-embassy-wont-get-involved-in-michele-bachmann-citizenship-controversy
Newsline: Iranian FM Summons Swiss Envoy
The Iranian Foreign Ministry summoned the Swiss Ambassador to Tehran to voice strong protest against the US officials’ interfering remarks on President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s recent visit to the Iranian island of Abu Musa in the Persian Gulf. The US has no diplomatic relations with Iran and US affairs in the country are dealt with via the Swiss embassy in Tehran. US State Department Spokesman Mark Toner said that the United States supported “a peaceful resolution” over the three islands and backed the UAE call for the issue to be resolved through talks or at the International Court of Justice. The Iranian Foreign Ministry official told the Swiss ambassador that Abu Musa Island, like all other Iranian islands in the Persian Gulf, is an inseparable part of the sacred soil of the Islamic Republic of Iran. He further emphasized, “The Iranian president’s visit to Abu Musa is just like his numerous visits of the other provinces of this country.” He considered the comments made by that US official “interference in internal affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran”, categorically condemned them, and asked for respective appropriate explanation from the US administration. The ambassador of Switzerland to Tehran, too, after hearing Tehran’s official objection on the matter announced that he would convey the matter to the US government and announce their respective reply upon receiving it. After Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited Abu Musa last week, the UAE recalled its ambassador from Tehran in protest at Ahmadinejad’s official trip to the Iranian island. Then, the foreign ministers of the six-nation PGCC held an emergency meeting in Doha on Tuesday and issued a statement against the Iranian President’s visit to the Iranian island.
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8101300331
Consular affairs: Switzerland’s embassy shifts consular section to London
The consular section of the Swiss embassy in Ireland is being moved to London as part of a reorganisation. The small section looks after Swiss nationals living in Ireland and deals with queries about passport and ID cards, visas, immigration and emigration, citizenship requests and registration of births, deaths and marriages. However, the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs is making the move as part of a reorganisation of its consular network throughout the world. A statement said that the embassy in Ireland would continue to perform its diplomatic duties, but the consular section was being moved to the Swiss embassy in London. The visa section of the Dublin embassy closed down permanently on April 13 last, it said. Visa applications for Switzerland for tourism, visits and business will now be processed by the Austrian embassy in Dublin, which is at 93 Ailesbury Road. Visa applications for work, study, medical reasons and residence will be processed at the Swiss embassy in London.
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/switzerlands-embassy-shifts-consular-section-to-london-in-reorganisation-3081265.html
Newsline: Swiss to open embassy in “rising” power Qatar
Switzerland is preparing to open an embassy in Qatar, a country it sees as an increasingly important player in the region. Ambassador Martin Aeschbacher said the small Gulf kingdom “is on the rise” economically. Aeschbacher says relations with Gulf states are growing in importance. Qatar in particular plays a mediator role in the region, something he will be following “close-hand”. The new embassy opening comes against the backdrop of closures of various Swiss embassies worldwide as part of restructuring of the Swiss diplomatic network. The foreign ministry announced earlier that it intended to use some of the freed-up resources for the new embassy in Doha. Aeschbacher is an expert in Arab affairs who has served in posts in Baghdad, Tripoli and Damascus. He has presented his credentials to the Qatari foreign ministry and is due to be received by the emir of the country.
http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/politics/foreign_affairs/Swiss_open_embassy_in_rising_power_Qatar_.html?cid=32306746
Consular affairs: Swiss visa application centres in ten more Indian cities
Applying for visa for Switzerland will become easier as Swiss visa application centres ( VAC) will soon be opened in 10 more cities. The VACs would be opened at Chandigarh, Kolkata, Cochin, Jalandhar, Chennai, Pondicherry, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Pune and Hyderabad, in addition to the existing VACs in New Delhi and Mumbai. “Switzerland and VFS Global have partnered to open branches of Swiss Visa Application Centres (VACs) in 10 cities across India,” a statement from Swiss Embassy said. Switzerland-appointed VFS Global for outsourcing started its visa application processing services in Delhi in November 2007 and subsequently in Mumbai in August 2008. “76,700 visas were issued to Indians travelling to Switzerland in the year 2011 while the figures for 2010 stand at 61,686,” said Kurt Gruter, Acting Head of Visa section, Embassy of Switzerland, in the statement. The VACs would collect visa applications and, if necessary, arrange an interview with the Swiss Embassy in New Delhi or the Consulate General in Mumbai.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/nri/visa-and-immigration/swiss-visa-centres-in-ten-more-cities/articleshow/12100962.cms
Newsline: Switzerland temporarily closes embassy in Damascus
Switzerland said Wednesday it has temporarily closed its embassy in Damascus for security reasons as violence in Syria continued despite growing international pressure on Bashar al-Assad’s regime. “Swiss citizens living in Syria were given due notice that the embassy would be closed and consular services transferred to Beirut,” the Swiss Foreign Ministry said in a statement, citing “reasons of security”. On February 15, Switzerland announced its intention to close the embassy, without a giving specific date. The Swiss ambassador to Syria was recalled to Bern in August 2011 for consultations and never returned to Damascus. Then in late November, the Foreign Ministry urged Swiss nationals to leave Syria as soon as possible. Some 150 of the 180 Swiss registered with the embassy are still in Syria. The vast majority of Swiss citizens in Syria – 147 people, or nearly 80 percent – are dual nationals.
http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=370731
Newsline: Switzerland to recall ambassador to Syria
Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter says Switzerland will close its embassy to Syria. On the fringes of a news conference on Wednesday, Burkhalter indicated that the decision would be taken shortly and the Swiss ambassador would be recalled swiftly. “We will close the embassy in the next few days,” he told public radio. The up to 180 Swiss nationals in Syria, mostly dual nationals, would be asked to leave the country for safety reasons. Many European Union countries decided to withdraw their ambassadors to Syria ten days ago.
http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/politics/Swiss_to_recall_ambassador_to_Syria.html?cid=32130688
Newsline: Iran summons Swiss envoy over US drone incident
Iran foreign ministry has summoned the Swiss ambassador to Tehran, who represents US interests in Iran, to protest the “violation” of its airspace by aUSdrone, state media reported. The ministry summoned Livia Leu Agosti, Xinhua reported. The Swiss embassy in Tehran represents US interests in the country since Tehran and Washington severed diplomatic relations in 1980. Iran has denounced the growing US “provocative and secret moves” against the country, said the report. “The move is in violation of all international conventions and runs counter to regional and international peace and security. Surely the responsibility for the illegal move lies with the US authorities,” said a statement from the ministry. IRIB TV Thursday showed the footage of theUSdrone that crashed a few days ago.
Newsline: Switzerland’s top diplomat sees no US decline
Foreign Ministry State Secretary Peter Maurer, who has been in Washington for bilateral meetings, continues to viewSwitzerland’s relationship with theUSas crucial. Maurer, who had been attending the annual gathering of the United States-Switzerland Joint Working Group, said that he did not believe in the widely-discussed US decline. The diplomat, number two in the Swiss foreign ministry, headed a ten-member delegation into “extensive talks” with members of the Obama Administration over a four-day period inWashington, with the last held on Friday. Most of the 25 meetings on the schedule were held as part of the annual gathering of the US-Switzerland Joint Working Group, a bilateral high-level forum launched in 2006. Maurer also held bilateral meetings with some of the most prominent foreign policy advisers to both President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, including his US counterpart, Deputy Secretary of State William Burns. Central to the special relationship between Switzerland and the US is the so-called protecting power given by theUStoSwitzerlandfor representing American interests in Iran and Cuba. He pointed to the recent agreement negotiated by Switzerland that paved the way forRussia’s entry into the World Trade Organization by removing opposition from Georgia. Last month Switzerland also announced that, upon request from both parties, it was hosting and “facilitating” high-level talks between the US and North Korea. For its part, the US State Department announced on Friday that it “looks forward to continued close cooperation with the Swiss foreign ministry on a wide range of issues and working to address global challenges jointly”. This visit is likely to have been Maurer’s last toWashingtonas State Secretary. He is set to replace Jakob Kellenberger at the helm of the Swiss-run International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in July 2012.
Newsline: US hikers released from Iran prison to Swiss embassy officials
Two Americans jailed as spies inIranhave been released from a Tehran prisonand are en route to the airport, a diplomatic source told Reuters Wednesday. They were reportedly handed over to diplomats at the Swiss Embassy in Tehran. It was not yet known where they would head from Tehran International Airport. Earlier Wednesday, the Iranian attorney for the two, Masoud Shafiei, said he planned to go toTehran’s Evin prison to begin the procedure for the release of Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, both 29. “The case is over,” Shafiei said. “The court has ordered that they be freed on bail.” Shafiei told Reuters that he had obtained the “necessary signatures from judiciary officials for their release.” The $1 million bail-for-freedom deal was approved byIran’s courts, clearing the way for the release of the men after more than two years in custody.
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/44605964/ns/today-today_news/t/source-us-hikers-released-iran-prison/
