Crisis puts spotlight on Swiss relations with Belarus

The crisis now unfolding in Belarus is a source of embarrassment for Swiss diplomats, who earlier this year tried to revive bilateral relations with a country that some refer to as “Europe’s last dictatorship”. Until 2019, Switzerland had what is known as an embassy office in the Belarusian capital. But a decision was made to upgrade it to a real embassy to mark the beginning of a new phase of deepening relations, both diplomatic and economic, between the two countries. "The inauguration of the embassy is a sign of the growing importance of our relationship and pays tribute to the role Belarus plays in the region," said Ignazio Cassis, the Swiss foreign minister, during the opening ceremony of the new diplomatic headquarters in Minsk last February. Relations on pause Since the creation of the new republic following the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991, bilateral relations between Belarus and the Alpine nation had remained largely frozen. This was partly because Belarus was...