Switzerland must freeze Russian oligarchs' accounts, says Polish PM

 March 21, 2022

5:17 PM GMT+7

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki attends a joint meeting with Polish Deputy Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, Slovenia's Prime Minister Janez Jansa and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in Kyiv, Ukraine March 15, 2022. Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo

WARSAW, March 21 (Reuters) - Switzerland must freeze the accounts of Russian oligarchs in the country and confiscate their assets, the Polish prime minister said on Monday during a visit to Warsaw by Swiss President Ignazio Cassis.

In a bid to force a Russian military withdrawal from Ukraine, Western countries have imposed numerous sanctions, including freezing the Russian central bank's assets.

"They must be frozen, the assets of Russian oligarchs in Switzerland must be confiscated and I called on the president to see to it that Switzerland approaches this topic decisively," Mateusz Morawiecki told a news conference.

Cassis said Switzerland had adopted European Union sanctions against hundreds of people, including many oligarchs.

"They cannot dispose of their assets. If they own companies in Switzerland, be it in the commodities sector or elsewhere, these companies are also concerned by the measures. There have already been bankruptcies," he said.

Cassis said the measures taken by Switzerland were compatible with the country’s constitution and its long history of neutrality.

"What is not compatible is military participation," he said. "This has been the case for 400 years."

Reporting by Alan Charlish, Pawel Florkiewicz, John Revill, Silke Koltrowitz; Editing by Alex Richardson and Ed Osmond

https://www.reuters.com/world/switzerland-must-freeze-russian-oligarchs-accounts-says-polish-pm-2022-03-21/