As the official diplomatic mission in Russia, the Swiss Embassy in Moscow deals with all aspects of bilateral relations, which include economics, diplomacy, security and cultural exchange. Of course, the embassy is also competent to issue visas.
Embassy of Switzerland in Russia: history
Permanent bilateral diplomatic relations were established between Russia and the Swiss Confederation in 1814. The first diplomat to hand over credentials to the Swiss leadership was John Kapodistrias.
However, the first Swiss embassy opened in Russia only in 1906 in St. Petersburg, while before that only consulates worked in the country. It is noteworthy that Swiss foreign policy is so neutral that even after the October Revolution, relations between the two countries were not interrupted, although Switzerland did not recognize the Soviet Republic.
But relations were interrupted between 1923 and 1946 due to the murder in the confederation of the plenipotentiary representative of Vorovsky. In 1991, the alpine country recognized Russia as the successor of the USSR, and the Swiss embassy continued to work.
Relationship basis
Perhaps the most important part of Russian-Swiss relations is business. The comprehensive development of contacts between entrepreneurs of the two countries is carried out through the mediation of the Chamber of Commerce, established in 2009. In 2013, bilateral trade reached thirteen billion dollars.
Although the Swiss Embassy in Moscow deals with a variety of issues, including commercial issues, it is considered to be a priority to maintain a political dialogue between the countries. Given the special neutral status of the Swiss Confederation on the world stage, it also has additional mediation powers between countries that do not have diplomatic relations.
A vivid example of such mediation is the representation of Switzerland in relations between Georgia and the Russian Federation, relations between which were broken after the military conflict in South Ossetia.
Mediation
In August 2008, Georgia broke off diplomatic relations with Russia, in addition, a visa regime was introduced between the countries, which was later canceled by the Caucasian republic unilaterally.
Despite the fact that countries announced the termination of relations, a number of important issues needed to be resolved. In order to minimize the humanitarian consequences of breaking diplomatic communication, the countries assigned mediation to the Swiss Confederation.
In 2009, the Russian Interest Section was opened at the Swiss Embassy in Georgia, and the same section was opened in Russia. Such a decision allowed countries to protect the interests of their subjects in the territory of another state.
Representation of Russian interests in Georgia
The representation of the third country also helps maintain a constant dialogue on the settlement of the Georgian-Ossetian confrontation and the Abkhaz-Georgian smoldering conflict.
Separately, it is worth saying that although Georgia unilaterally canceled visas for Russians, Georgian citizens are forced to obtain visas to travel to Russia. Thus, the Swiss Embassy is also dealing with visa issues. However, the Russian interests section in Georgia authorized the visa center to accept documents from Georgian citizens who wish to obtain a Russian visa. The visa center is located on the street. Besiki, 4. It is worth recalling that Russian citizens do not need a visa to visit Georgia for tourist purposes.