Switzerland joined the European Union in imposing new sanctions on Russia due to its ongoing military actions in Ukraine.
The Swiss Federal Department of Economics, Education and Research (EAER) announced these sanctions in a press statement released earlier today.
Details of the Sanctions
The new sanctions start at 18:00 local time on Tuesday, July 9. They target:
Businesspeople
Propagandists
Members of the armed forces and judicial system
People responsible for deporting Ukrainian children
Workers of the Federal Security Service (FSB) of Russia
The sanctions also include companies in the Russian defense industry and those in finance and trade that help avoid sanctions.
Media Restrictions
The EAER banned ads from four Russian media outlets: Voice of Europe, RIA Novosti, Izvestia, and Rossiyskaya Gazeta, because of their propaganda and disinformation.
However, unlike the EU, Switzerland did not ban these media from broadcasting. The EAER believes countering false information with facts is more effective.
Otherwise, Switzerland’s actions match the EU’s recent sanctions.
More than 2,200 individuals and companies are now on the sanctions list, meeting EU standards.
In December 2022, the EU suspended broadcasting licenses for several Russian channels, including NTV/NTV "Mir", "Russia-1", REN-TV, and Channel One. On May 15, EU ambassadors approved new sanctions to combat Russian propaganda.
