Up to 20,000 marched in Bern on Saturday against the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
There were smaller rallies across the country, a few thousand gathered in Basel and several hundred outside the UN in Geneva.
Speakers who called on the Swiss government to enact more stringent sanctions against Russia were cheered.
A survey by yesterday’s Blick newspaper suggests there is narrow support for Switzerland to take a more aggressive stance against Russia. 52% say this country should implement the EU sanctions in full – 25% are against it, the others say the don’t know.
But there remains strong support, 66%, for Switzerland to play an active role as mediator.
The Federal Council will be meeting later today to reassess its position. There are several MPs from centrist and left-wing parties that would like Switzerland to do more. The US embassy in Bern says it encourages Switzerland to join the international effort to isolate Russia and the EU ambassador in Bern hopes this country will show the ‘courage and determination’ ad support EU sanctions.
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