{"id":203138,"date":"2026-09-10T15:44:56","date_gmt":"2026-09-10T12:44:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/203138\/"},"modified":"2026-09-10T15:44:58","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T12:44:58","slug":"new-swiss-ambassador-arrives-in-minsk","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/203138\/","title":{"rendered":"New Swiss ambassador arrives in Minsk"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

September 10, Pozirk.<\/em> <\/strong>New Swiss Ambassador to Belarus Stefan Estermann arrived in the country with his wife, he said in a video posted on Facebook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Estermann noted that he and his wife were warmly welcomed and quickly felt at home, adding that he looked forward to starting his new job, meeting people and building new contacts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A career diplomat, Estermann worked in Ukraine and Russia, among other places, and served as the Swiss foreign ministry\u2019s chief of staff. From 2014 to 2018 and from 2022 to 2026, he headed diplomatic missions in Croatia and Greece, respectively. In addition to his native German, he speaks French, English, Czech and Russian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Switzerland is one of the few Western nations that has an ambassador in Minsk. Estermann is replacing Christine Honegger Zolotukhin, who arrived in 2022 after Belarus freed Natalla Hersche, a Belarusian-born citizen of Switzerland convicted over 2020 protests. Honegger Zolotukhin had presented her credentials to Alakasandar \u0141uka\u0161enka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Switzerland has aligned itself with most of the EU sanctions targeting individuals and legal entities in Belarus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alaksandar Hanievi\u010d, the Belarusian ambassador to Switzerland, told Russia\u2019s RIA Novosti<\/em> last year that Minsk is not interested in a long-term freeze of relations with Switzerland despite tensions for which he blamed Bern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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