Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki met on Monday with the President of the Swiss Confederation Ignazio Cassis. He thanked Cassis for Switzerland’s readiness to work on the next sanctions packages against Russia, as well as to provide humanitarian aid to refugees from Ukraine.
Morawiecki said, that both he and the President of the Swiss Confederation are of the opinion that it is necessary to help defend the independence and sovereignty of Ukraine, but also bringing peace to Ukraine as soon as possible will prevent further large migration waves. The Polish Prime Minister emphasized that refugees from Ukraine would like to return to their home country, but first, there must be peace there, and the country must be rebuilt.
PM Morawiecki emphasized that Switzerland, Poland and the entire European Union are ready for implementing the great plan of reconstruction after the end of the war, which will happen as soon as possible.
He added that today it is necessary to focus on political and diplomatic activities to bring the war to an end so that the Russian tanks leave Ukraine.
“This is absolutely the most crucial issue today. Such strong policy of economic sanctions on Russia can help achieve this, and this was subject of our in-depth analysis with the President of Switzerland”, said Morawiecki.
President Cassis said at a press conference that Switzerland was harshly criticizing Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. He also informed that his country had introduced EU sanctions against Russia, and the last – fourth – package of sanctions was adopted by the Swiss government last Friday and will be implemented.
Cassis made a reservation that the expectation of military aid or the supply of weapons to Ukraine could not be met due to Switzerland’s neutrality, and expressed his appreciation for the aid provided by Poland to refugees.
The Swiss president emphasized that he was very impressed with the Polish solidarity towards people coming from Ukraine. “We admire very much what Poles do here in Poland. It deserves the highest praise”.
Cassis said the Swiss government allocated 80 million francs in additional humanitarian loans last week. “The population of Switzerland is willing to volunteer a further 80 million francs for humanitarian aid. This shows how people sympathize and show solidarity with the Ukrainians and the Ukrainian nation”, said the President of Switzerland.
Arkadiusz Słomczyński