Switzerland is unable to demand the return of 11 Swiss-made Eagle-1 armored vehicles reexported to Kiev by a German businessman without Bern's permission as it never owned them in the first place, a spokesperson for Switzerland's State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) told RIA Novosti on Wednesday
GENEVA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st June, 2023) Switzerland is unable to demand the return of 11 Swiss-made Eagle-1 armored vehicles reexported to Kiev by a German businessman without Bern's permission as it never owned them in the first place, a spokesperson for Switzerland's State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) told RIA Novosti on Wednesday.
"Switzerland is not and has never been the owner of those vehicles, therefore it would be unable to make such a request," Fabian Maienfisch responded to a question as to whether Bern intended to ask Kiev to return the vehicles.
Maienfisch added that he had no information on what had become of those vehicles in Ukraine. As far as the SECO was concerned, no other Swiss-made military equipment or ammunition had been donated to Kiev by that businessman, he said.
The Swiss government said on Wednesday that it had finalized its inquiry into how the vehicles ended up at the disposal of the Ukrainian army. It was established that they were sent to Kiev by a former top manager of a German corporation in violation of reexport rules.
In March, Swiss media released photos of two Eagle-1 armored vehicles spotted on the battlefield in Ukraine. In May, Switzerland's permanent representative to the United Nations, Pascale Baeriswyl, said the reexport of Swiss weapons to Ukraine was impossible without a change in the law.
Switzerland has repeatedly rejected requests from Germany, Spain and Denmark to reexport Swiss-made ammunition to Kiev, citing the nation's principle of military neutrality. According to Switzerland's authorities, Bern can refuse to reexport military materials if the country to which they are destined is involved in an international armed conflict.
