The case Jacques Baud – hopefully an eye-opener

What is the Federal Council doing?

by David Vogelsanger*

(9 January 2026) The facts are known. On 15 December, the EU Commission has added to its list of sanctioned persons Jacques Baud, a Swiss citizen of good standing living in Brussels, for alleged pro-Russian propaganda in connection with the Ukrainian-Russian war. Along with people who actually may or may not be real Russian propagandists. Baud is not accused of any crime

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However, because of the sanction, he can no longer travel, not even back to his home country, he has no access to his bank accounts, and no one is allowed to provide him with material support, not even food or housing. Before the measures were announced, no one from the EU confronted Baud with any allegations. He has been denied his right to a fair hearing.

A journalist informed him about the sanction that had been imposed upon him. The Swiss public only learned about all this thanks to the Swiss weekly newspaper Weltwoche and then, somewhat later, the daily Neue Zürcher Zeitung. The EU sympathizers at the major media groups Tages-Anzeiger, Ringier, and CH-Media for weeks largely concealed from their readers what went on.

Baud is a former long-time employee of the Swiss Intelligence Service, the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, the UN and even NATO, sometimes in very responsible positions. In our army, he has commanded a battalion of armoured grenadiers and became a general staff colonel.

Since his retirement a few years ago, he has become known to a wider public as an astute and knowledgeable analyst of international conflicts, particularly the war in Ukraine. He is accused of alleged Russian propaganda simply because, as it should be obvious for an analyst, especially one from a neutral country, he has taken the trouble to listen to the arguments of both sides instead of simply joining the chorus of those who always know immediately who is good and who is bad in distant countries, but who, due to their superficiality, understand nothing at all.

Russia invaded Ukraine almost four years ago. That is clear, and Baud does of course not dispute that. But every conflict has a long history, and if you ignore that history, you simply fail to understand it. Baud, who incidentally speaks Russian himself due to his former work for our intelligence service, has done nothing other than try to understand this conflict and listen to both sides. This is the only way to approach a possible peace. This is also how the diplomacy of neutral Switzerland has acted in the past and has thus on many occasions been able to help achieving peace.

The EU's actions are scandalous.

But for me, as a Swiss citizen and former ambassador for our country, something else is even a lot more shocking. The federal authorities probably knew before 15 December that the EU Commission intended to sanction a fellow citizen for merely expressing his opinion. It is unlikely that the EU Commission would take such a step without at least informing a country it considers a partner.

Baud was not warned and therefore did not have the opportunity to return home in time. After the sanction was announced, there was silence in Bern and at the two Swiss representations in Brussels (the Mission to the EU and the Embassy in Belgium and to NATO). The head of the representation in The Hague, who is also responsible for consular protection in Belgium, is said to have finally contacted Baud just before Christmas. However, consular protection is purely a routine matter in cases of detention, for example, but this is a highly political, i.e., diplomatic matter.

Baud claims that, status 29 December, the heads of these two representations did not accept to talk to him even after 15 December. When Federal Councillor Beat Jans, Minister of Justice, was asked about the case shortly before Christmas, he could think of nothing better to do than put on his usual grin. Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis, the foreign minister, has, as of today, not summoned the EU ambassador to make it unmistakably clear that Switzerland does not accept such treatment of a Swiss citizen of good standing who is exercising his constitutional right to freely expressing his opinions.

It is regrettable that this right is increasingly being restricted in the EU, especially in the country to our North, but that is their business. However, our Federal Councillors have sworn an oath to the constitution and to their official duties, and this constitution guarantees freedom of expression. Among the official duties of a Federal Councillor is undoubtedly the one to “protect and defend the freedom and rights of the people and its citizens”, as the oath of office used to explicitly state. For God's sake, then get finally to work in Bern!

Unfortunately, it is all too obvious why this work has not been undertaken yet. Four out of seven Federal Councillors, who unfortunately constitute a de facto centre-left majority in the Federal Council, are subordinating everything to their goal of imposing the colonial treaty negotiated with the EU upon the Swiss people. Any means are justified to achieve this, including watering down our neutrality by participating in sanctions against a warring party, the staging of a useless, or rather even counterproductive, show with a supposed “peace conference” at the Bürgenstock, to which one of the warring parties, the Russians, were not even invited, silence on corruption in the EU, the most recent example being the case of the Collège de l'Europe diplomatic academy, which is also co-financed by Switzerland, with the arrest and resignation of former EU Commission Vice-President Mogherini, and now obsequious tiptoeing when the rights of a free Swiss citizen are trampled on by the EU. Just don't do or say anything that might upset the leaders of the EU, an EU which has been politically and financially bankrupt for quite some time!

Freedom of expression is a fundamental human right. The departments headed by Jans and Cassis employ a considerable number of officials who deal with human rights issues around the world. The Foreign Ministry for this purpose even has an entire division department headed by an ambassador. So far, none of these human rights “experts” and, above all, their political bosses have said a word about the Baud case. Is it easier and more comfortable to sit in an office in Bern and write clever reports on the human rights situation in China, North Korea or Belarus than to stand up courageously when the human rights of a fellow citizen are grossly violated by the European Union, an EU in which one sees the future of one's own country?

Every crisis also offers opportunities. As much as we wish our fellow citizen a quick solution to his unpleasant situation, we also hope that many people in the country will now open their eyes to the anti-freedom nature of the European Union.

The legal and economic aspects of the so-called Bilateral Treaty III, a real cheater word, will be discussed another time...

* David Vogelsanger, born in 1954, attended school in Zurich until obtaining his doctorate in history. Military service in the mountain infantry and later in the army staff. At the age of 25, first assignment as an ICRC delegate in an African civil war, followed by further assignments over five years in East Asia, again in Africa, and in the Middle East. One year with the UN force in Cyprus. Joined the diplomatic service in 1987. After a series of assignments abroad and in Bern, became Consul General in Milan in 2005, Ambassador to West Africa based in Abidjan (Ivory Coast) in 2010, and Ambassador to the South Pacific based in Wellington (New Zealand) in 2015. Now lives with his wife and dog in the Zurich countryside and in Ticino.

Source: https://sichtweisenschweiz.ch/gesellschaft/der-fall-jacques-baud-hoffentlich-ein-augenoeffner/, 29 December 2025

(Translation “Swiss Standpoint”)