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by Karin Leukefeld,* Germany/Syria
(20 June 2025) Flags are waved again in Syria. Shots of joy ring out through the cities – dancing people laugh at the cameras of international media, waving flags and clapping their hands. Syrians have waited more than ten years for the sanctions against their country to be lifted, and now the moment has finally arrived.
Event organised by “Swiss Standpoint”
(20 June 2025) (Own report) On 13 May 2025, in the well-attended rooms of “Swiss Standpoint” in Frauenfeld, Palestinian Dr Sumaya Farhat-Naser spoke about the situation in Gaza and the West Bank and her involvement there. The speaker gave a knowledgeable overview of the catastrophic humanitarian situation. At the same time, she impressed the audience with her level-headed, peaceful and egalitarian attitude towards the world.
by Wolfgang Bittner,* Germany
(13 June 20259 (CH-S) In its 17th package of sanctions adopted on 20 May, the EU included German journalists Alina Lipp and Thomas Röper among those sanctioned, imposing a ban on entry into and transit through the EU and their home country; their assets in Europe were frozen. The EU thus followed Ukraine’s lead in placing Ms Lipp and Mr Röper on the “list of Ukrainian enemies of the state”, some of whom have already been killed. The inclusion in the EU sanctions package was carried out without any review under the rule of law and in disregard of press freedom, freedom of expression and information, as well as in disregard of any guarantee of legal recourse.
by M. K. Bhadrakumar,* India
(13 June 2025) President Donald Trump had a difficult week. No, this isn’t about Elon Musk or Harvard University. On Wednesday, his call to Russian President Vladimir Putin didn’t go well. It turned into a ‘conversation’, as Trump wrote on Truth Social, lasting only an hour and 15 minutes, which means, setting aside the time for interpretation, it left no room for substantive discussions.
The call took place against the backdrop of the attack on Russia’s nuclear force on 1 June Trump acknowledged in his Truth Social post later that Putin spoke “strongly” about Russia’s response to come. The post was notable for its subdued tone.
by Prof. Dr em. Wolf Linder*
(13 June 2025) No sooner had the popular initiative “for a neutral, cosmopolitan and humanitarian Switzerland” been submitted than the mainstream media launched a chorus of condemnation, dubbing it “Blocher initiative” or “Putin initiative”. The aim was to discredit the popular initiative from the outset and stifle any objective discussion.
by Guy Mettan,* Geneva
(6 June 2025) It was to be expected that the 80th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany on 8 and 9 May this year would give rise to a wave of Russophobic hate speech against Russians and Russia. The most blatant insults were avoided, because it was difficult to spit on the 27 million dead that the Soviet Union sacrificed to liberate Europe from Nazism.