Putin escalates hybrid war against the West – our commentary

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Putin’s secret service has become increasingly aggressive in its hybrid war against liberal democratic Europe. In neutral Switzerland we should stop lying to ourselves.

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The “impact” is getting closer.

Closer to the so-called safe Switzerland. A country that claims to be neutral and wants to conduct its business without interference.

The country’s government and parliament are weakening European economic sanctions against Russia for its injustice.

This is a country where right-wing conservatives despise Vladimir Putin, Russia’s top war criminal, and swear that Western culture is in danger because of Nemo and the gender asterisk.

The country's second-largest political force still intends to abolish its own military in line with its official party plans.

At the same time, Russian sabotage and espionage activities in Europe continued to increase. Western secret services and security experts warn that Russia is becoming increasingly aggressive.

Terrorist attacks against neighboring countries – the Bernese Confederation is watching its wallets

In recent months, there have been growing reports that Russian agents are recruiting criminals to commit arson and other acts of disruption to the Telegram messaging service. At the same time, plans to eliminate important economic players were made public.

Our immediate neighbors are also affected.

The chairman of Germany's Federal Intelligence Service (BND) publicly warned this week that the situation would worsen. Russian secret services acted “without scruples”.

The head of MI5, the British secret service, spoke of “dangerous operations being carried out in an increasingly brutal manner”.

Autocrat Vladimir Putin is escalating the hybrid war he has waged for years against the liberal democratic West. But many of our politicians still don’t seem to hear the gunshot. Others may hope to profit from an increasingly difficult situation.

Switzerland needs its own turning point

For too long, we Swiss have lived like maggots in bacon – ignoring the growing threats to our security. With the exception of Austria, which also remains neutral, we are surrounded by NATO countries. What should happen there?

It seems logical that no enemy forces will be deployed on our borders for the foreseeable future. From the perspective of the enemies of democracy, this is unnecessary: ​​they are working tirelessly to destabilize our social system.

Although those in power in the Eastern European countries directly threatened by Putin understand that the bloodthirsty tyrant only speaks the language of strength, in this country they continue to rely on “appeasement policies.” National politics are politely holding back and our economy is benefiting from sanctions evasion and triangular deals.

The U.S. State Council’s pro-Russian decision is concerning. Or the current weakening of European economic sanctions imposed by the bourgeois-dominated Federal Council.

This is extremely dangerous. Rather than hiding behind neutrality, we should join our European partners in taking decisive action against Putin’s hybrid actions. To achieve this, however, Switzerland needs its own “turning point.”

As German Chancellor Olaf Scholz declared, the military transformation was not enough. Instead, what we need is social reflection.

The most pressing issues from a Swiss perspective

It is humanly understandable that the Swiss prefer to remain in denial and continue to live as undisturbed as possible.

But we have to step out of our comfort zone and ask ourselves some uncomfortable questions:

The behavior of the head of the federation in Bern shows that the urgency of the situation has not yet reached everyone's minds and offices.

The greatest threat to our security and prosperity does not come from more, fairer taxes on local multimillionaires and billionaires. But from Russia. We have a serious reality denial problem.

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