Setback for Viola Amherd – Ruch will not become State Secretary for Security Policy after all – News


Contents

Bang in the VBS: A little over a month ago, the Federal Council appointed Jean-Daniel Ruch as the new State Secretary for Security Policy. Now, as Radio SRF has learned, Ruch will not take up his post.

On September 15, Defense Minister Viola Amherd and Federal Council spokesman André Simonazzi appeared in front of the media to introduce Jean-Daniel Ruch as the new State Secretary for Security Policy. Amherd praised the current Swiss ambassador to Turkey Ruch as a “fine connoisseur” of security policy.

The new State Secretariat in the DDPS


Open the box
Close the box

In April 2023, Federal Councilor Viola Amherd, head of the Department of Defense, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS), announced the creation of the State Secretariat for Security Policy.

The war in Ukraine “shows us that there is an urgent need for action,” explained Amherd. In addition to military wars, wars are increasingly being waged using hybrid means, such as cyber attacks or disinformation campaigns, said Amherd.

Security policy cannot therefore be limited to defense, explained the Federal Councilor. This is the task of the new State Secretariat. It is intended to perceive and coordinate security policy from a holistic perspective.

When making his appointment, Ruch emphasized his many years of experience as a diplomat in conflict areas. But something must have gone wrong during the selection process, so that Jean-Daniel Ruch was unable to sign the employment contract as State Secretary.

Viola Amherd will inform the entire Federal Council about this today. Radio SRF found out about this from a reliable source. For Federal Councilor Viola Amherd, this is a fiasco. The new State Secretariat for Security Policy is one of its prestige projects. It will be interesting to see how the Federal Council as a whole takes this information. And how the Defense Department explains all of this afterwards.

The position will be re-advertised

Amherd set up a search committee to choose the new state secretary. Members of the search committee included, among others, the Secretary General of the Defense Department, Toni Eder, and the Secretary General of the Foreign Affairs Department, Markus Seiler.

However, right from the start, some people wondered why Defense Minister Amherd chose Jean-Daniel Ruch and not Pälvi Pulli on the recommendation of the search committee. The current head of the security policy department in the Defense Department was considered the favorite. After Hamas’s brutal terrorist attack on Israel, right-wing circles also criticized Ruch because he had maintained contacts with Hamas in previous positions.

The Defense Department DDBS did not want to comment when asked by Radio SRF. The position of State Secretary or State Secretary for Security Policy is now to be advertised again.

source site-72