Bern has indicated there isn’t enough evidence to show the funds fall under sanctions, making the move illegal

The Swiss government will not block more Russian assets – apart from the funds already frozen – due to a lack of evidence they fall under sanctions, Director of the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) Helene Budliger Artieda said in a Tuesday interview in the German newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung.

Her comments came in response to earlier claims by US Ambassador to Switzerland Scott Miller, who criticized SECO last month for not doing enough to implement sanctions against Russia, saying that Bern could block a further 50 to 100 billion Swiss francs in Russian assets and use them to help restore Ukraine.

“The figure of 50 to 100 billion francs was initially circulated as a possible estimate of Russian funds under [Swiss] management, but it was not an estimate produced by Switzerland. Not all Russians are subject to sanctions – only a small minority,” Budliger Artieda told the NZZ.

Bern has frozen 7.5 billion Swiss francs ($8.3 billion) worth of Russian assets since the EU imposed sanctions on Moscow in connection with its military operation in Ukraine. According to the SECO chief, the blocked funds equate to around “a good third” of the €21.5 billion ($23.4 billion) frozen across the European Union, but further asset freezing would require evidence that the funds were connected with sanctioned entities or individuals.

“We keep telling the US and all partner countries, if you have any valuable leads, give them to us. We will follow these up. To this day we have not received any from the Americans,” she stated.

When asked whether the frozen assets could be confiscated to finance the reconstruction of Ukraine, the official reiterated earlier statements by Swiss authorities that such a move would violate ownership rights and would be illegal from the point of view of the Swiss legal system.

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“The confiscation of private assets is not permitted in Switzerland if they are of lawful origin and have no proven criminal background. Their confiscation would be contrary to the Federal Constitution and the applicable legal system and violate Switzerland’s international obligations,” she stated, adding that the Swiss government is also unlikely to pressure the country’s financial institutions to stop serving Russian clients.

“We do not dictate to any bank or company who it has to maintain customer relationships with,” she said.

While the notion of seizing frozen Russian assets to help rebuild Ukraine has been discussed by Western countries for some time, no actual steps have been taken so far, as many fear it could create a dangerous precedent in the global legal system. Russia has repeatedly warned against taking such actions, claiming they essentially constitute theft.

Not all crises are equal under the Biden Administration.

Climate change is top of mind on Capitol Hill, and government funding reflects this.

Joe Biden’s budget includes nearly $50 million for the Department of Energy’s Solar Energy Technology Office to assist communities and low-income households in continuing to decrease the cost of installing rooftop solar and solar plus storage on homes across the country.

The battle against fentanyl, which claims tens of thousands of lives each year from overdoses, gets $40 million to fight trafficking and disrupt transnational criminal organizations.

If the White House has a good reason why a program to help people install solar panels gets a bigger slice of the budget than efforts to combat fentanyl trafficking, the American people would love to hear it.

Biden’s taken some heat for not doing enough to fight the scourge of fentanyl, but as Politico reported, he’s taking steps, announcing Tuesday increased sanctions targeting drug traffickers.

The White House issued a fact sheet, saying it will increase sanctions and other measures against targets to stymie drug traffickers’ access to the U.S. financial system and illicit financial flows.

Washington will build a global coalition to combat the illicit synthetic drug trade, the statement said, in an effort to “develop solutions, drive national actions, and create synergies and leverage among like-minded countries.”

We all know how well sanctions against Russia, issued by a coalition of countries, worked in getting Russia to back off its war plans for Ukraine.

How about pulling out the stops to increase the number of Customs and Border Patrol officers? The agency has been struggling with shortages, boosting funding to entice recruits is well worth the expense.

CBP already does yeoman’s work. In February, CBP officers in California intercepted the largest seizure in the history of the port with almost $1 million worth of fentanyl and methamphetamine at the Andrade Port of Entry. It was stashed in a pickup truck, found after officers used the port’s imaging system to screen the vehicle. We need more wins like this.

Earlier this year, a bipartisan group of lawmakers in Washington reintroduced the Eradicating Narcotic Drugs and Formulating Effective New Tools to Address National Yearly Losses of Life (END FENTANYL) Act. The legislation would require the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection to update its policies at least once every three years to ensure drug interdiction guidance is up to date. It builds off the 2019 GAO report, “Land Ports of Entry: CBP Should Update Policies and Enhance Analysis of Inspections,” that found drug interdiction guidance has not been updated in 20 years.

These are concrete ways to address fentanyl trafficking, and warrant concerted bipartisan efforts to enact such legislation.

Getting U.S. homes outfitted with solar panels is a nice idea, but dedicating more budget dollars to stopping the flow of a deadly drug that is wreaking havoc on American lives should the Biden Administration’s top priority.